Double the Trouble
by sallymae28
Summary: "Have any of you seen a toad, a boy named Neville lost one." That was the sentence that put an end to my happy little bubble with two of my best friends. "Annabelle, who's this?" I looked up to see who Fred was looking at. My eyes went wide as I looked back at my sister...my twin sister. "No one important." Will skip years, plenty of twists and turns along the way! NOW COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

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 **A/N: Yup, switched from True Blood to Harry Potter and even in HP I've switched my OTP four times now. I'm hoping you like my new story, I'm pretty fond of it myself. Well, without further ado, let's get this party started.**

 **Don't own a damn thing other the my o/c character**

 **Chapter One: The Accidental Magic**

August 13th was the day my life changed forever. It started out normally, just my sister and I playing in the back yard, but it would quickly turn sour. My sister and I were flying kites when suddenly the string to my sister's kite broke. She started crying as she watched her kite disappear, pulled away by the wind.

"Annabelle," she said between sobs, "my kite..."

"I saw it too, Hermione," I said, letting her cry on my shoulder. Our parents heard her crying and while she explained to them what happened, the missing kite came back. It landed next to the spindle and the strings repaired themselves.

"Mom...did you see that?" I asked quietly.

"How...what? The kite was long gone!"

"I don't know, it just came back and fixed itself!"

From that day on, I was watched carefully to see if any other mysterious things happened around me. The more they watched, the more I got upset, thinking my parents didn't trust me. The more I got upset, the more weird things happened. Things would break then repair itself, things would fly into my hand when I wanted them, just weird little things. Think of the movie and/or book Matilda. Things were pretty much like that.

Things got out of hand and I found myself unable to control any of the things I was making happen. As my sister and I grew older, my parents decided that though they loved the both of us, they couldn't deal with my "problem" and so I was dropped off at an orphanage while my sister, my _twin_ sister, got to stay with our parents. I was unwanted because I was "different." I was five years old when my parents decided they didn't want me.

Two years, 3 months, and 4 days later I was adopted by Melissa and Zach Hughes and from that day on I was no longer Annabelle Granger, I was Annabelle Hughes. They seemed like nice enough people and didn't seemed bothered at all by what the head of the orphanage had warned them about. I still couldn't control the magic and found myself constantly alone and usually in my room.

"Hello, Annabelle," my new father said as he knelt down to be and face level. "My name is Zach and I'm your new father. This is Melissa, and she is your new mother. We're here to take you home with us, you're not an orphan anymore!" he said happily. I smiled from ear to ear, glad to be out of the orphanage that had become my prison.

"It's nice to meet you," I said quietly.

"Well, let's get going," Melissa said as grabbed my hand as we walked to the car. I nodded enthusiastically.

An hour later we pulled into the driveway of a beautiful two story ranch style house. We were out in the country with no neighbors for miles. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I was led inside. The place was even more beautiful on the inside. I was given the grand tour of the place and I loved it, especially my room. The walls were a light blue and the carpet was dark blue and very soft. I had a full sized bed that was already covered with pillows and a stuffed animal. As I stood in the doorway, the stuffed animal flew across the room and into my hands. It was a soft, brown owl. After I looked at it, I realized what had just happened and freaked out.

"Please don't send me away! I didn't mean to do it!" I said, trying to hold back tears.

"We won't send you away, Annabelle. We can do the same thing, you're a Witch just like me!" Melissa said, smiling down at me. "Zach is a Wizard!"

"So...I'm not a freak?" I asked quietly.

"Not at all, dear. Not at all." She wrapped her arms around me and gave a bone crushing hug. I squeezed her back.

"Do witches and wizards go to normal schools?"

"No, honey, they don't. Like you, young witches and wizards have trouble controlling any accidental magic. Magic can't be used around muggles." Zach explained.

"Muggles?"

"Non-magic people."

"Why can't we use magic around them?"

"It risks exposure to our world and that is a bad thing."

"Why?"

"Because muggles aren't very open minded as you well know. We would be considered evil and other such things and who knows what would happen then?"

"Oh. How am I going to learn then?"

"You'll be home schooled. I teach a bunch of kids during the week and you'll be joining the class," Melissa said happily as we made our way to the kitchen. I immediately perked up.

"I'll get to meet other kids and they won't be afraid of me?"

"I think they'll love you," Zach said.

"What do you want for dinner, honey?" Melissa asked.

"Anything but ramen noodles...Mum..." I said.

"No problem at all," she said, tears in her eyes after her hearing me call her mum for the first time.

"Thanks," I said, smiling up at her. "So, how many kids do you teach?"

"Well, there's Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy, and now you, so...six."

"How old are they?"

"Well, Ginny is a year younger than you, Ron is your age, Fred and George are two years older, they're twins, by the way, and Percy is 3 years older than you. He's almost old enough to go to Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?"

"It's a school for witches and wizards. Your dad and I went there."

"Cool, when do I get to meet them?"

"Tomorrow, if you'd like."

"Cool. So, Fred and George are twins?"

"Yep."

"I have a twin, too," I said quietly. "but she hates me." I said quietly. I hated to say it, but I missed my sister a little bit even though she had been absolutely cruel to me once my magic started showing more. She constantly made fun of me, pointing out my every flaw. I had been almost glad I was able to get away from her. As for my parents, they had betrayed me and I never wanted anything to do with them...or my sister.

"Oh, no one told us about that," my new dad told me. "We were told you were an only child."

"Well, they lied. They just didn't want me because I'm a freak."

"You're not a freak, dear."

Dinner had been amazing – double smothered chicken. Afterwords, I headed upstairs and started unpacking the few belongings I had. I was excited to meet the other kids, especially Fred and George. From what I had been told about them, they sounded fun and I could definitely use some fun in my life. I had a feeling I would get along with them fairly well.

My new parents bid me good night and tucked me in. That night, I went to sleep feeling loved, accepted, and happy, something that hadn't happened for 4 years. I was home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Meeting the Weasleys**

 **A/N: So, here's chapter two. Hope you enjoy!**

"You ready to go, Annabelle?" My father yelled from downstairs. "We're going to be late if you don't hurry up!"

"I'm done!" I yelled down before I ran down the stairs. We were traveling by something called the "floo network." I was curious to see what the heck that was.

"Calm down," Dad said, chuckling as he saw me race to the fireplace where I had been informed the travel started.

"When are we leaving?"

"Now," Mum said as she ushered all of us into the fireplace after grabbing some sort of powder out of a bowl on the mantel. "The Burrow!" She shouted, then threw the powder onto the floor. Green flames shot up, making me shriek, afraid that we were going to be burnt alive.

Seconds later, I was stumbling out of a different fireplace with a bit of soot on my nose. My parents chuckled as they walked out smoothly behind me, completely soot free. Mum wiped the soot off of my face then followed the sounds of voices leading us to the back yard. When I stepped out the back door, the first thing I noticed was a sea of ginger heads sitting at a long table.

"Melissa, Zach! I forgot you were coming today," a red headed woman said as she walked over to us.

"It's quite alright," dad said.

"You must be Annabelle," she said to me, a smile on her face. I nodded.

"My name is Molly, welcome to The Burrow. Come, let me introduce you to everyone." I nodded and let her steer me to the table.

"Everyone," she announced. "This is Annabelle Hughes, Zach and Melissa's daughter."

Rounds of hi's and hellos came from the table as I gave a small wave.

"This is Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy," she said, pointing at each one of them. "And over there is my husband Arthur."

"Hello," I said quietly as I stood awkwardly between Molly and my mum.

"Come, come, take a seat. That's right dear," Molly said as the twins made room for me between them. I blushed as they started throwing food on my plate.

"Thanks..." I said quietly as I started eating.

"So, Annabelle," George (I think) said, "Tell us about yourself."

"There's not much to say, really," I said quietly, looking down at my plate.

"Oh, come on. There's gotta be something you can tell us," Fred said.

"Um...I'm adopted?"

"Well, we already knew that."

"You never said it had to be something you haven't heard before," I said, grinning at Fred, finally able to look up from my plate.

"Good point," the twins said at the same time.

"Tell us something else then," George said.

"Something we _don't_ already know," Fred specified.

"My favorite color is green," I told them. "That's all your getting out of me."

"We'll weasel some more info out of you," one of the twins told me.

"Maybe."

"So, Miss Hughes, how do you feel about pranks?" George asked.

"Well, Mr. Weasley, as long as they don't hurt anyone I like them!"

"Wonderful, we knew-"

"You'd be-"

"A prankster-"

"Just like us." They finished at the same time.

"Do you always-"

"Finish each others' sentences?"

"All the time," they said at the same time again. I nodded in reply then looked up at mum who had announced she'd be starting the lesson. The twins groaned, banging their heads off the table.

"Fred, George, stop that," she said, shaking her head at the two of them. "Today we'll be working on math."

An hour later, the numbers in front of me started blurring together due to extreme boredom. I yawned then laid my head on the table.

"So...bored..." I mumbled.

"Shall we make our day much more interesting?" George asked.

"Please do. I can't take anymore of 'what's 3 times 4.'"

"Well, oh brother of mine, do you have any ideas?"

"Fred and George Weasley, I know what the look on your faces mean! Don't even think about it!" Mum said. "And don't bring Annabelle in whatever you're plan on doing. She's a good little girl, she doesn't need to be corrupted by the two of you. Understand?"

"Yes, Mrs. Hughes." The twins said at the same time.

For the next hour we listened to mum talk about the history of magic and how important it was to know no matter how young you were. Two hours later, lessons were finally over and we were free!

"Still want to have some fun?" Fred asked. I nodded, matching the grin on his face.

"Any ideas?" George asked me.

"We could do a classic bucket over the door. You know, when a person walks into the room, the bucket empties over their head."

"Sounds spectacular," Fred said.

"How are we going to get away with it?" I asked, trying to work out a plan.

"How about you start a ruckus in the living room, the reason is up to you. While Mrs. Hughes is trying to calm you down, we'll set up the bucket." George said.

"I can do that," I said, smiling at the twins. "What door, though?"

"And who do we aim for?"

"Well, ickle Ronnicans has been awfully annoying lately," Fred said.

"Maybe a bucket of water over his head will straighten him out," George said.

"Sounds great. You go get everything ready while I go throw a fit about something."

Twenty minutes later, a girl like shriek rang throughout the burrow. Molly and mum were worried right away while dad and Arthur were trying not to laugh along with everyone else. The twins and I grinned at each other, giving (discrete) high fives as well.

"YOU!" The furious red head yelled at his brothers. "YOU DID THIS!"

"Relax, Ron. It was just a joke. A little water never hurt anyone," George said.

"A little...a LITTLE water!?"

"At least you won't need a shower later on then," I added.

"YOU! You were in on this too, weren't you!?"

"Maybe I was just trying to defend them, hmm? They were the first ones to be nice to me, you know."

"Just what we need, another prankster," he mumbled to himself before Molly dried him off with a spell.

"Was he right, Annabelle? Did you have something to do with the prank they pulled on Ron?" Mum asked.

"I might have played a tiny part," I said quietly.

"Is that why you threw a fit earlier?"

"Maybe..."

"Don't maybe me, young lady. Did you have anything to do with it?"

"Well, yes. The fit was to distract you guys from what the twins were doing. That and I really do hate math, so the screaming about that was completely true."  
"Why would you participate in such a thing?" Dad asked.

"What, math? Because you made me, obviously."

"No, the prank."

"Seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Fred, George, I thought I told you not to corrupt her!" Molly said.

"There wasn't much corrupting to do, actually."

"Already had a plan and everything!" All parents sighed before mum and dad ushered me to the floo with an apology to the Weasleys. Before the floo activated, I waved to Fred and George and grinned at them.

"Young lady, we are very disappointed in you!" Dad said.

"I'm sorry."

"Just two days with us and you're already pulling pranks! The first time we take you to meet our friends, you help their sons prank their brother!" Mum yelled.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly again, "you did get warned about all the bad things about me though from the orphanage..."

Dad sighed and ran a hand down his face while mum had me sit at the kitchen table.

"Seeing as this is your first time misbehaving, and it better be the last, this is your freebee," she said as she put a hand on my shoulder. I sighed and rested my head on the table.

"You sound just like my real parents _and_ the orphanage." I snorted. "And both of them gave me away. Are you next on the list?"

"You will apologize immediately, Annabelle Lee Hughes!" Dad snapped. "Then you will march your butt up to your room and stay there until dinner!"  
"Zach, she's just a child. She's been through so much, can you blame her for making the comparison?"

"I'm sorry," I said quietly before walking up the stairs. I shut the door behind me and flung myself onto my bed. I curled up with my stuffed owl and a pillow and cried myself to sleep. Before I knew it, I was being called down for dinner. I rubbed my eyes then went to the door.

"Not hungry," I said then closed the door again. I did not feel like being around them yet. Five minutes later, there was something tapping on my glass. I stood and opened my curtains revealing an old owl sitting on the ledge. Attached to its leg was an envelope addressed to me, the owl jumped into the room after I had opened the window.

 _Anna,_

 _Sorry we got you in trouble. If it makes you feel any better, we got grounded. The family is going to Diagon Alley to pick up everyone's school stuff and we have to stay home. I think your mum is going to be babysitting though. Maybe you'll be able to come over, too._

 _Anyhow, we're sorry again._

 _Fred and George Weasley_

"Wait here," I said to the owl who was cleaning its feathers. I grabbed a quill and scribbled a note on the back of Fred and George's note.

 _Fred and George,_

 _Don't worry about it. I got sent up to my room and that's about it. It's not like staying in my room is out of the ordinary for me anyway. I kinda had a bad reputation in the orphanage so I spent my time away from everyone. I'll ask what happened to you guys tomorrow and see if I can come along, too. If you see me, you'll know the plan went well. If not, well, expect me there an hour after mum gets there. I have my ways of getting places._ _ **Without**_ _magic._

 _Good night!_

 _Annabelle Hughes_

I sent the owl on its way and laid back down.

"Are you sure you're not hungry?" Mum asked. Right on cue, my stomach growled.

"I'll be right down!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: No Trip for You!**

 **A/N: Hope you're enjoying, but I haven't heard anything from my readers. A review would be awesome, they're a writer's version of crack.**

 **Still don't own anything but Annabelle**

"So, mum. Any word on what happened to Fred and George?" I asked, trying not to sound suspicious.

"Grounded, I believe."

"Oh, what from?"

"Why so many questions?"

"I'm just curious about what happened to the first friends I've ever had...EVER."

"If you must know, the Weasleys are going to Diagon Alley today and Fred and George have to stay behind."

"I suppose they'll be needing a babysitter. Mrs. Weasley wouldn't want them to get in anymore trouble."

"What are you hinting at?"

"Well, wouldn't it be nice of you to be the babysitter? I mean after all, it _was_ your daughter that helped them. It'd be like making it all even, right?"

"Molly already asked me to babysit."

"And what did you say?"  
"Of course I told her yes, and before you ask, NO you can't go along."

"Oh. Ron said something about degnoming the garden, whatever that is. He didn't make it sound fun at all, so maybe the twins and I could do that as a punishment? I mean, three birds with one stone, so to speak. Let's face it, sending me up to my room isn't going to really let the lesson sink in."

"Okay...but if you guys cause any trouble, I'll floo your father and you'll go straight home!"

"Yes, mum." I tried not to sound or look excited as I ate the toast, eggs, and bacon that had been set in front of me.

"Now, you behave yourself for Mrs. Hughes! I hear you stepped one TOE out of line and you won't see the light of day until you go to Hogwarts!" We heard Molly say as we stepped out of the fireplace.

"We're here, Molly. You guys can head on out."

"We?"

"Yes, I brought Annabelle along. I'm sure I can find something for the three of them to do for punishment."

"Alright. The garden needs degnoming, you can have them do that," Arthur suggested. Mum nodded and watched the Weasley family, sans Fred and George of course, leave for the afternoon.

We found the boys sitting at the kitchen table. They smiled at me.

"Glad you could make it," Fred said.

"Don't know how we could have survived without you!"

"I'm sure your mum has all sorts of mean things planned out for us."

"Apparently we're degnoming your garden." Both boys groaned with displeasure.

"Mrs. Hughes, do we have to?" George whined.

"Your father asked me to have all _three_ of you do it. Don't get any ideas though. I'll be keeping a close eye on the three of you. Well, out to the yard, then. The twins will show you how it's done."

I nodded and followed them to a bunch of bushes at the far corner of the back yard.

"So what are we supposed to be doing?" I asked.

"See those little beasties?" George asked, pointing to some sort of stereotypical gnome.

"Yeah."

"Well, we've got to get them all dizzy and throw them out of the yard. It's fun at first, but then it just gets boring and tiring," Fred finished.

"Oh."

"Be careful, they bite."

"I'll be fine," I said as I walked over to one in a pink dress. "Ouch! It bit my ankle!"

"We warned you, didn't we?" Fred pointed out.

"Shut up," I said, grinning at him. "Now how do I get rid of this thing?"

"Spin around really fast like this, then once he's really dizzy, throw him out of the yard. Like this," George demonstrated for me.

It took me awhile to get a hang of it, but once I did, I could keep up with the twins. We were actually having a blast watching the poor little things try to make it back into the yard. When we were done, we were bone tired.

"Are the three of you done?" My mum asked from her spot at a picnic table.

"Yes, mum."

"Yes Mrs. Hughes," the twins said at the same time.

"Well, I say it's time for a break, then."

"A BREAK? You're not going to make us do MORE stuff, are you?"

"No, I suppose not. The three of you did a lot of work today. I think that's enough."

"Thanks mum. All I need right now is a glass of something cold, and a nap."

"Sounds great," the twins said.

"I usually claim to be to old for naps, but sleep...sleep sounds good." Fred said.

"Mum woke us at the crack of dawn this morning."

"What for?" I asked.

"Okay, maybe not the crack of dawn, but still too early."

"Early breakfast."

I nodded and followed mum inside and watched as she summoned pillows and blankets to lay on the floor.

"You know, we do have our own rooms," Fred reminded mum.

"Yes, but I don't trust the two of you alone together. Especially under my care and even more so when you're grounded. If you plan on sleeping, you'll be sleeping in the living room with Annabelle."

"If you insist," George said as we took off our shoes by the door. The three of us curled up on the floor, sharing a blanket and somehow a pillow while mum sat on the couch reading a romance novel. I started tossing and turning a bit while sleeping, reliving the cruelty of my sister, biological parents, and the children of the orphanage.

 _"You're a freak, Annabelle! We should just throw you in a lake with a brick tied to your feet, we'd all be better off then!" Hermione shouted after I had broken a glass with accidental magic._

 _"We told you to control all that nonsense, Annabelle! You're just using it to get attention now! I know you are!" my biological father told me before slapping me upside the head. Hermione witnessed the act and smiled._

 _"Serves you right, you freak!"_

I felt like the stereotypical charity case child, beatings were frequent from my biological father and yes, I had "daddy issues." The orphanage wasn't much better. I was teased merciless by the other children which was over looked by the head of the orphanage who often found it funny. Life was hell until Zach and Melissa adopted me and I hope things stayed as good as they were starting to. For the first time in my life I was surrounded by people who didn't think I was a freak and actually had friends.

"Anna, wake up," Fred said quietly as he shook me lightly. "Anna!" He said a little louder.

"Wha...what?" I said quietly in a tired voice.

"Are you okay, you were talking in your sleep."

"I'm okay."

"Then why were you telling your real dad to stop beating you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, Anna, just tell me."

"Maybe one day, but not right now."

"Alright, fine," George said who had apparently overheard the conversation. "But you will tell us one day." I nodded and the two of them snuggled up closer to me, wrapping their arms around my like an Annabelle sandwich. I felt safe, cared for, and happy for the first time in a long time but I also felt like the little girls on the cop shows my biological mother watched who were abused, ect. I wasn't fond of the feeling, but at least I had a couple of people to distract me enough not to think about it.

A couple hours later, we were woken up to a loud awwww, aren't they cute? From Molly Weasley and chuckles from Ron and Percy.

From then on, I spent every day at the Burrow and most nights as well. Whenever I had nightmares or didn't want to be by myself (Ginny wasn't much company), I would sneak up to the twin's room and crawl into bed with one of them. Molly, Arthur, and my parents knew, they had caught us at one point, but no one seemed to care.

"Whatever makes her happy," I heard my dad say. "As long as it doesn't bother you, of course."

"Of course not, Zach. The girl deserves all the happiness she can get and if my boys make her happy, then so be it. They're still young, so it's not like.. _that_ would happen," Molly said.

The twins and I did everything together, including pranking anyone we could whenever we could get away with it. Time flew by and before we knew it, we were receiving our Hogwarts letters. I was practically jumping up and down, okay I was actually jumping up and down, as I read my acceptance letter and school supply visit. It wouldn't be too much longer and I would be making my first trip to Diagon Alley.

 **A/N: I don't really like how this chapter turned out, but Annabelle's past kinda needed to be revealed a bit. Sorry she sounds kind of mary-sue ish. Wasn't my intention! Next chapter will be better, I swear. Please leave a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: The Missing Frog**

 **A/N: uh oh! Dun dun dunnnnn! Drama on the way!**

Diagon Alley was quite possibly the coolest place I had ever been. I was fascinated by what magic could do. The twins were especially excited to show me Zonko's. They told me all sorts of things they knew about sneaking around Hogwarts, having already left for school the previous year, leaving me all by myself, wondering what to do. Okay, so technically I wasn't by myself. Who would leave an 11 year old girl unsupervised?

"We're going to have a joke shop of our own, one day," George said.

"We'll put Zonko's out of business,"Fred added.

"We'll be rich and famous!"

"Don't worry, we'll let you work for us. You can be the cashier."

"I don't think so, oh twins of mine. I'll be working right along with you, thank you very much. After all, I came up with half of the ideas," I said, smiling at them.

"You could always try to find your sis..." Ron said before he was slapped upside his head by an outraged mother.

"No, Ron. I will NOT try to find her. I want nothing to do with her, so kindly both shut up about her and mind your own business," I snapped.

"Alright, alright, sorry," he said, turning red and staring at the ground.

"Fred, George, why don't you go take Anna over to Olivander's to get her wand?"

"Yes, mum!" the twins said as they linked their arms through mine.

"Sorry about what Ronald said. He can be a real git sometimes," George said.

"I've known him long enough to realize he just shouldn't be able to talk, in general. It would save so much drama."

"Right you are," Fred said as he opened the door to a rather old looking shop ran by an even older man."

"I was wondering when _you_ would get here, Mr. Potter," he said to the customer ahead of us.

"Harry Potter, really? I was hoping he'd be cute," I said quietly. We watched him go through a batch of wands and have finally settling upon on one, Mr. Olivander's voice got quieter and glanced at us before telling him some sort of story. Probably something to do with the story of The Boy who Lived.

"Hello Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Weasley. Who is this lovely girl you've brought with you today?" He asked.

"Annabelle Hughes," Fred said, smiling at me as he pushed me towards the counter.

"First wand?" Mr. Olivander asked. I nodded. I went through a sequence of wands myself before a wand chose me, 'the wand chooses the wizard' apparently.

 _Hawthorne, swishy, with dragon heat strings. 7'' long, good for charms and transfiguration_ was written on the box.

"Well, now that you have one of the most important things, let's get you a pet. You can have and owl, a rat, or a toad." George told me.

"Scabbers has set me off rats forever and who on earth would want a toad?"

"Best get an owl then." I nodded and we headed over to the pet store where I ended up getting a huge barn owl. We named him Gred, well, Fred and George named him Gred. I didn't have much choice in that matter.

Once the fun shopping was done, we met up with the parents again who were getting confronted by a tall man with bleach blonde hair. He was insulting Mr. Weasley and I just wasn't going to let that happen.

"Excuse me, sir, but where on earth did you get your hair done? I'd ask for a refund if I were you. That shade of blonde or is it white? Either way it just does NOT flatter your pale skin. Are you sick or have you just not heard of the sun?" I asked.

"Why you insolent little brat! Has no one taught you respect?" He snapped.

"Oh, yes. I have been taught respect but I choose to respect those who deserve it. YOU do not. You've insulted my family for no reason other than to make you feel better about yourself. THAT is NOT the way to get respect, that is childish. By the look of you you're at a rather...advanced...age and should know better. By the look of your robes, I'd wager that you're pretty wealthy, so why don't you just go _buy_ some manners?"

"You DARE to insult a Malfoy?"

"Well, I wasn't dared to do anything. I just don't like to see my family talked to or treated that way. So, if you'll move your rather large behind out of my way, I have books to buy."

He stepped out of my way and stomped away from the store, mumbling to himself about 'revenge,' disrespect, and 'my wife will hear about this'.

"I've wanted to do that for years," Fred said as we walked up to the Weasleys and my parents.

"As funny as that was, Annabelle, it was a very stupid thing to do. Mr. Malfoy is a powerful man and this could just come around and bite us all in the bud."

"Oh. Well, sorry in advance then."

A couple hours later, we were back at The Burrow. Molly fed us a quick lunch then sent me and my parents on our way home with plenty of left overs. The train left the next day so the rest of the afternoon was spent packing away all of the things I would need for school.

"Thanks for the owl," I said while we were eating supper.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," mum said, I could tell she was already tearing up about sending her baby girl away to boarding school for 9 months.

"What did you name it?"

"I didn't name it. Fred and George did. It's name is Gred."

The next morning saw us on Platform 9 ¾ saying our goodbyes. Mum was crying and hugging me so tight I thought I was going to suffocate.

"Okay, Mum, you need to let me go or I'm going to miss the train!"

She finally let me go and I followed the twins onto the train. We quickly found a compartment towards the back and settled it. I was told it was going to be a long ride, making me grin. Oh, the harmless pranks we could pull while traveling.

"I know that look, Anna," George said. "We're thinking the same thing. We made sure to bring some of the Zonko products with us."

"Goody," I said, before we put our heads together to plan our first prank of the year. We were digging through our bags when the door slid open revealing a girl with big bushy hair and a stuck up sort of vibe.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost his."

"No, no one has seen a toad," I said, not turning to look at her.

"Anna, who's this?" George said.

"No one important," I said, still glaring at our intruder.

"I'm your sister, and you say I'm not important? Just as rude and inconsiderate as you used to be."

"Whatever. So, did dear old mummy and daddy get rid of you when they found out you're a witch?"

"Oh, heavens no. They were so proud to have a witch in the family. They love me far too much to toss me away to an orphanage, you know, like they did to you. You know what they said after they dropped you off? They said good riddance and laughed as we drove away. They took me out for ice cream afterward for "getting rid of the trash" as mum put it."

"Alright, I don't know who the hell you are, but you are sure as hell not wanted here. Go find someone else to bother.. As you can see, there is no toad here." Fred said as George wrapped an arm around me.

"Oh, are you with one of them or both? I could see you being with both. I always thought you'd grow up and be a slut."

"Hermione, I found him!" A boy shouted from the hall.

"Well, ta ta, sister of mine. I'll see you at the sorting ceremony. I do hope we get put in the same house, we have so much catching up to do."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Better be...**

 **A/N: Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this story, especially the ones who have added me to their favorite lists and/or are now following this story. I appreciate the support.**

 **I don't own anything but Annabelle**

The first years were separated from the upperclassmen and taken in boats across the black lake. It was beautiful, but I hated boats ever since George pushed me off of one when we were hanging out in the middle of the pond for no reason at all. I ended up soaking wet with icky plants in my hair. Of course my sister had to ruin it with all of the little details she had read in a book called "Hogwarts: A History. Always the little bookworm Know-it-All.

Once we reached the other side, we all got out of the boats (duh) and were lead to the huge classroom where the Head Mistress was waiting for us.

"Thank you, Hagrid," she said before leading us into the castle, stopping in front of what Hermione said was the "Great Hall." The Head Mistress babbled on about some history and what not. I didn't listen until she said we were about to get sorted. Fred, George...well all of the Weasleys were in Gryffindor, so of course I wanted to put with them. Nine months without spending large amounts of time with Gred and Forge? I'll pass on that option, thanks very much.

A stool sat up on the raised platform with a weird looking hat on it. The Head Mistress explained the sorting process while I sighed and made faces at George.

"Granger, Hermione." My sister walked down the line of first years and proudly sat on the stool.

"Hmm...right then...right...plenty of courage...not a bad mind either...better be...Gryffindor!"

"Courage?" I scoffed as she took a spot at the table, which just so happened to be by the twins.

"Hughes, Annabelle."

"Gryffindor!" The hat said before it even reached my head. I smiled widely then ran over to the table. Hermione smirked, thinking she had stopped me from sitting with my friends. Instead, a spot was cleared for me in between them. The smirk turned into a scowl as her eyes narrowed at me. I shrugged and watched the ceremony where both Ron and Harry Potter were sorted into our house as well.

Percy led us up to the tower where we were told the password (caput draconis) and were given the grand tour. (Boys' dormitories up the stairs and to the left, girls the same on the right.)

I was exhausted from all the drama of the day and the long trek from the great hall to our tower. I plopped down on the couch between the twins who were arguing about our idea called canary cremes. They couldn't seem to decide how far the reaction to the candy should go.

"Boys, let's settle for something in between turning into an actual bird vs. turning yellow with feathers."

"What's your idea, then?" They asked at the same time.

"They turn yellow and sprout feathers, but can only chirp like a bird until the spell wears off."

"Alright, but how long should the spell last?" Fred asked.

"Half hour or so."

"You, Annabelle Lee Hughes, are a genius," George said, kissing my cheek.

"Tell me something I don't already know," I said, smirking at him before yawning.

"I think it's somebody's bed time," Fred said while George chuckled.

"Oh, shut it," I said. "Poor boys, however are you going to be able to sleep without me?" I joked.

"We'll be fine, the real question is will YOU be able to sleep without US."

"I managed when you were off to school before I got here."

"Ah, yes. But now you have a bully and we're just a staircase away from us."

"Will you be okay," Fred asked suddenly all serious.

"I should be. If not, like George said, you're just a staircase away."

"You sure you don't just want to sleep with us and avoid the drama bound to happen tonight?"

"That will just start drama right away in the morning," I pointed out. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say the two of you were trying to get me to sleep with you. Going to miss me that much?"

"Oh, so you _do_ sleep with them both," I heard my sister say as she walked by.

"Sod off, Granger, you're taking that completely out of context and you know it," George said, going red in the face.

"George, there's no need to defend me, I can take care of myself."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm going to head on up. I'll see you guys in the morning." I gave them both brief hugs then headed up to the girls' dormitories. Of course my dear, dear sister had to show up just as I chose the bed closet to the door (easiest place to sneak out of.)

"I was right, wasn't I? You did grow up to be a little slut," she taunted.

"No, Granger, I did not. We meant sleep as in actual _sleep_ , not that it's any of your damn business. Now shut up and go to sleep or get the hell out. I'm tired and I just want to sleep."

I grabbed some pajamas that just so happened to be one of Fred's shirts and a pair of shorts I stole from George, and headed to the bathroom to change. A few minutes later, I walked out and saw Granger had taken over the bed I picked out.

"Granger, get off my damn bed."

"I'm sorry, but this is _my_ bed."

"I'm giving you one last chance, Granger. Get off my bed, or you will sorely regret it."

"Regret it?" she scoffed. "What are you going to do, beat me up?" I grabbed a chunk of her hair and dragged her out of bed. She fell unceremoniously onto the floor and glared up at me.

"I told you you'd regret it. Now, goodnight, Granger." I crawled into bed after grabbing a couple essential items and shut the curtains before anyone could stop me. I quickly set the heart shape pillow on top of the Hogwarts issued ones and straightened up my soft white blanket with hearts on it over me. Both were birthday presents from Fred and George when we were younger. I had slept with them every night I couldn't actually sleep next to them for some semblance of comfort. It took me hours to fall asleep, but when I did all I did was have dreams about the cruelty of my sister. After a particularly nasty one, I said 'fuck it', sneaked out of my room and straight to the boys' dormitories.

"Fred, George, you in here?" I asked quietly.

"Miss us already?" I heard Fred say as he pulled back the curtains of his bed. George was snoring away in his own bed, oblivious to everything going around him, just like the other boys.

"Shut it, Fred," I said as I crawled into bed next to him. I curled up against him and laid my head on his chest.

"Bad dream?" I nodded as he wrapped an arm around me after shutting the curtains. I quickly fell asleep listening to his familiar heart beat and feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: No Drama Before my Coffee Please**

 **A/n: Thanks to those who have been reading this story, it's greatly appreciated:) Once again, I don't own anything other than Annabelle and Hermione's sad excuse of a personality.**

"Why am I not surprised?" I asked as I saw my sister planted on the couch watching the stair case like a hawk. "Please, no drama before I've had coffee."

"Drama? Who said anything about drama? I was worried when I woke up in the middle of the night to see my _only_ sister's bed empty. Naturally I was concerned, so I figured I'd wake up early to make sure you were okay. Clearly you are, the twins seemed to have taken care of you." She pointed at my tangled up, sleep acquired hair and automatically jumped to the conclusion that the term "sleeping with" meant something other than what it was.

"Yes, I am coming out of the boys' dorms. Yes, I am in my pajamas, and yes, my hair is a disaster."

"Yes, your hair is rather atrocious."

"At least mine doesn't look like a bird's nest 99.9% of the time. What's your excuse?"

She glared at me and tried to smooth out her hair as I walked by her. I rolled my eyes then headed up the stairs to get dressed for the day. I attempted to tie my tie as I walked down the stairs to the common room but got frustrated.

"Why the hell do we have to wear these things?" I asked George after running into him, yes, literally ran into him.

"Watch where you're going, would you?" He asked, steadying me before I could fall over. "They make us wear them just to be cruel. Here, let me get it."

"Thanks."

"Your dear sister is spreading rumors already," Fred said, nodding over to a group of girls looking at me and giggling.

"Are they the kind I'm assuming they are?"

"Most likely."

"God, I hate her."

"Let's go to breakfast, I'm starved," George said.

"You're a male Weasley, I'm surprised you don't eat while you're sleeping," I said, chuckling as I linked my arms with theirs.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Fred asked.

"It will probably make the rumors worse. We can stay away until they die down."

"If I didn't know any better I'd say that you were more bothered by the rumors than me. Ashamed to have people wrongly assume we're having sex?"

"Of course we're not ashamed of you."

"We were just looking out for you."

"Well, I'm not letting some silly rumors ruin our friendship. People can think whatever they want to think. I yelled at Lucius Malfoy when I was nine because he was being a jerk. Do you really think I'm afraid of my sister?"

George's stomach started growling, making me laugh as we headed down to the Great Hall.

"Well, rumors do certainly pass fairly quickly around here, don't they?" I asked as a couple of older Ravenclaw girls glared at me.

"Especially news as scandalous as this," Fred said before winking at me.

"Not to mention that it's being spread by my twin sister which makes it even _more_ interesting. Oh, the joy of drama."

We took our seats at the Gryffindor table, once again I was smooshed between the twins while Hermione sat as closely to George as she could without being outrageously creepy. I was happy to see that the house elves had remembered to give me coffee instead of pumpkin juice. I took a nice long sip of it and smiled.

"Now that you've had your coffee," My sister started.

"Now that I've had my coffee you can still keep your mouth shut or I will shut it for you." I continued on with my breakfast of french toast and bacon without paying her any mind.

"Didn't you hear what she said?" Ron asked. "She said shut your mouth or she'd do it for you. She'd be doing a great public service if she did. If you're not complaining and starting rumors about your sister, you're talking about that ruddy book."

I smiled at my second favorite Weasley (the twins tied for first place.)

"Why thank you Ronald. Clearly me, and well, everyone else ignoring her wasn't getting the point across. I wonder if she'll make any friends by being such a bloody know-it-all. I swear, she even quotes her books in her sleep! Drove me crazy enough for me to sneak out of my room! Thankfully Fred was nice enough to lend me his bed so I could get some sleep."

"Are you the one who started the rumor about Anna?" Percy asked, glaring at her.

"I may have played a part in it."

"It is only 8 in the morning and you have already lost YOUR OWN HOUSE 20 points for disrespecting a student."

The Gryffindors within ear shot booed at her, and not Percy for once.

"Oi, and I was in the same room as them, you know. Just to clear up this stupid rumor, NOTHING HAPPENED OTHER THAN SLEEP!" I heard someone say from further down the table.

"Oliver Wood," George whispered in my ear.

Hermione was silent for the rest of the meal and everyone was thankful for it. Class, however, was far different. Of course, with the twins being older, we had different classes to attend. First class was Charms where Hermione spouted out direct quotes from the required text book and flawlessly preformed the spell. Seamus Finnegan blew up his feather which made the rest of us laugh. I tried the spell as the laughter died down and my own feather floated into the air.

"Well done, well done, Miss Hughes! Ten points to Gryffindor!"

"But Professor, I preformed the spell correctly first, why did I not receive any house points?" Hermione questioned. The Professor did not look amused in the least.

"Too be honest, Miss Granger, I am not impressed by someone directly quoting a book. It only proves they have read the text not that they understood what it meant. As for your spell, it was done correctly, but your need to rub it in other students' faces does not earn points in the least. Miss Hughes, on the other hand, has done the spell flawlessly and has not said a single word other than a thank you for the house points received."

Homework was assigned before class was dismissed. I watched Hermione stomp out of the room, obviously outraged. She glared at m as she passed as if her know-it-all quality was my fault.

"No wonder she hasn't got any friends," I heard Ron say.

"She's an absolute nightmare, isn't she?" I added as I caught up to him and Harry Potter. I heard sniffles then a bushy head run past me.

Halloween came faster than I thought it would, especially with the twins and I concocting all sorts of nasty treats. Treats that turned you into different animals, that made you temporarily fat, gave you horrible acne, etc.

Hermione's attempts at being cruel to me were ignored by everyone but the Slytherins who tended to shout the rumors across rooms and what not. There were a great many rumors going around, mainly things about me being so close to the twins. Of course she had told Pavarti Patil and Lavender Brown our life story and soon the whole school knew. Slytherins and even a few Ravenclaws liked to poke jabs at me about being given up for adoption. My response was either 'bugger off' or 'sod off' depending on the day and if I had had my coffee. The Weasleys stuck up for me quite a bit as did Harry.

"You should have been in Slytherin!" Padma Patil said. She liked to hear the gossip, but she didn't support it most of the time. A few girls were jealous about the make believe love triangle between the twins and I. I laughed at them when they gave me dirty looks. Through all of her attempts to make me look bad and to gain popularity, no one liked her. She was still a know-it-all who thought she was better than everyone else. It seemed that she had not changed since childhood and everyone agreed with my opinion.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Troll in the Dungeon**

 **A/N: I'm glad I have so many followers/readers so thanks to them. You know what would be freakishly awesome? Leave me a review and let me know what you think of the story and things you might want to see happen.**

 **Don't own anything other than Annabelle and Hermione's shitty attitude.**

We were having a nice, drama-free supper when Professor Quirrel burst through the doors screaming about a troll being in the dungeon. Of course, mass panic followed as did Dumbledore telling us to shut up.

"Prefects will lead their houses to their common rooms immediately," he ordered. All students stood up and damn near ran out of the great hall, the order of following the prefects ignored. As I looked around to find the rest of the Weasleys, Harry, and yes, even Hermione, I discovered that Hermione wasn't with the Gryffindor students.

"Where's Hermione?" I asked Fred and George. We had been keeping an eye on her to pull a few pranks and just annoy her in general.

"I don't know," Fred said. "George, what about you?"

"I saw her heading down to the dungeons," Ron interrupted.

"We've got to go get her!" Harry said. The two of them ran off to save the day.

"The two of them are idiots," I said. "Rushing off to save someone they don't even like."

I followed Fred and George to the common room which was just outrageously loud. I covered my ears and motioned for them to go to their dormitory with me. They nodded and followed me up the stairs and jumped onto Fred's bed after silencing the room.

"So, your sister is in the dungeons where a huge troll currently is. Aren't you worried?" George asked.

"Honestly, a little bit. Even as much as I hate her, I don't want her to get seriously hurt or die." I laid back on the bed sighing. The twins laid down next to me and turned me into an Annabelle sandwich. Normally I would make some smart ass comment about it, but I was enjoying it too much. It was comfortable, calming, and just something familiar.

A half hour later, Ron came up and told us that Hermione was back and okay except for some minor cuts and bruises. I nodded, untangled myself from the sleeping twins, and headed downstairs.

"I see you're okay," I said, walking up behind her.

"Like you give a damn. Why did _those_ two come to my rescue instead of you? After all, you were the one who had me crying so hard I had to hide in a loo somewhere."

"I had you crying? What in the world did I do to you? I haven't spoken to you unless completely necessary. YOU on the other hand, are continuing to do your best to make my life miserable. So, how in the world did I have you crying?"

"You're my...my...sister, and you don't want anything to do with me! Your own flesh and blood and it's like I don't even exist to you! You told me to go fuck myself and to stop calling me your sister! You...you told me that I was a cruel little girl and haven't changed and that I wasn't worth the ground I walk on..."

"Yeah, I said that to you after you started in on our...YOUR parents not wanting me and all that jazz! You deserved every single word, and I won't take them back. You want to know why I didn't save you? Because I don't give a rat's ass. We may share parents, but you are NOT my sister. You stopped being my sister when we were five years old. Now leave me the fuck alone."

I swear her eyes turned black in anger as I refused to back down and feel sorry for her. Out of nowhere she threw a punch at me, landing right on my nose. I felt it break and blood started pouring out of my nose.

"All of this because she told you the truth?" Fred said as he pushed her out of the way.

"Come on, we need to get her to the hospital wing," George said as he handed me a handkerchief an older student had given him. We made our way to the other side of the school rather quickly, using the secret passages the twins had found.

"What on earth happened to her?" Madam Pomfrey asked as we walked in.

"Hermione Granger punched her in the face." Fred told her.

"What for?"

"Because I told her something she didn't want to hear."

"Ah, well I'll have to report this to Professor McGonagal."

"Okay, that saves me the problem of having to hunt her down myself."

"I think it may be best if you told her your side of the story first. I'll send for her."

Five minutes later, our head of house walked into the hospital wing. My broken nose had been fixed quickly and the blood cleaned.

"Madam Pomfrey told me you had a little disagreement with your sister. What happened?"

"Well, she tried to blame her being in the dungeon with the troll on me because apparently I'm mean to her and it made her cry. When she came back to the common room, I went to check on her and she immediately started in on me about the troll. She pulled the 'woe is me I'm your sister and you hate me' card to try to make me feel bad. When I didn't back down and told her some things she didn't want to hear, she thew a punch and I ended up with a broken nose. Please don't refer to her as my sister, I don't see her as such."

"My apologies, Miss Hughes. I'll have a talk with Miss Granger and try to straighten out this issue."

"Thanks," I said, trying to be polite. I had a feeling McGonagal was only going to make things worse.

"There is something we are worried about," George said.

"She has to share a dorm with Granger, and we're worried Granger might do something else to hurt her. If she has no problem hitting her, who's to say she won't try to hex her or something." Fred added.

"We don't think it's safe for her to be alone with Granger," they said. "Especially at night."

"Quite understandable, and I do admit there is a safety issue with that. I suppose you have an idea, the three of you always do."

"Well, it's no secret how close the three of us are," I started.

"and how protective we are of her," Fred added.

"It may be best for her to stay with us," George said.

"We've shared a room since we were little kids,"

"Maybe it would be safer for her to stay in our dorm?" the twins finished.

"That is completely against school policy."

"Yes, but would you really want to put a student in danger? Most of the Gryffindor girls aren't big fans of her. What if they team up on Anna and she gets seriously injured?"

"The three of you make a very good point. For tonight, you have permission. I'll need to talk to the Headmaster and write to your parents to see if this can be a permanent arrangement until the situation with Miss Granger is fixed up."

The three of us smiled and stood to leave.

"I'm trusting the three of you to behave properly with such a situation. You might as well move her things to your dorm anyway. I don't see your parents having any issues with it and I'm sure Professor Dumbledore won't mind either."

"Won't mind what, Professor?" We heard the old, familiar voice of the headmaster say as he walked into the room.

"Headmaster, what a wonderful surprise, what brings you here?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Oh, just here for a few potions. Nothing too serious. Now, what is this issue that I won't mind, Minerva?"

"There seems to be some issues between Miss Hughes and Miss Granger that has escalated this evening. Miss Granger broke Miss Hughes' nose simply because she was told something she didn't want to hear. As you also know, Miss Granger has been cruel to Miss Hughes and all of us are concerned for her safety with her sharing a dormitory with her."

"Ah, so the problem is where do we do with Miss Hughes."

"Yes, the Weasley twins and Miss Hughes came up with an idea, and it just needs your approval."

"Why does she not just move in with them?" Dumbledore said, gesturing to Fred and George. "I am aware that is against more than a dozen school rules, but it is for the safety of a student. Miss Hughes, you may temporarily move into the 3rd years' boys dormitories. An elf will move your things over there and an extra bed will be added. Good night," he said, sending us back to our common room with smiles on our faces.

"Granger is going to be pissed," I said, chuckling.

My things were already in my new dorm by the time we got back. I quickly ran up to the girls' dormitories to see if anything of mine got left behind.

"Where have you been?" Granger snapped.

"Hospital wing where I spoke to both McGonagal and Dumbledore."

"Oh," she said, suddenly nervous. "Where are your things?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I've been moved to a different dorm."

"Really?"

"Yup. I'll be staying with Fred and George. Good night, Granger," I said as I grabbed the hair brush that had got left behind.

"What? You can't stay in the boys' dorm! It's against school rules!"

"I can stay in the boys' dorm. I have permission from Dumbledore and McGonagal."

"I don't believe you!"

"I don't care if you believe me or not. I'm still going over there whether you like it or not."

She glared daggers at me, then pulled her wand out of her back pocket.

"I should hex you, you know. A bat bogey hex would do you some good. You think you're all high and mighty, hanging out with the two most popular boys in Gryffindor. You need to be brought down off of your high horse, and believe you me, I'll be the one to do it."

"Granger, I think you need to get on some medication. One minute you're telling sob stories that I'm hurting your feelings, and the next you're threatening to hurt me. I don't get you, Granger, why do you care so much that I'm friends with George and Fred?"

"You are the UNWANTED one, no one should like you. NO ONE should want to have anything to do with you! Your own PARENTS got rid of you because you're a FREAK!"

"Yeah, um...okay. The family that adopted me is amazing. I have a lot of friends, the closest of them Fred and George, so you can just forget about people not liking me and whatnot. Why, exactly, am I a freak? Your parents got rid of me for the same reason that you are in this school." She was silent, not knowing what to say. Once again I had called her on her stupid bull shit. Honestly, she was making my life a soap opera and really needed to get on some sort of medication before she hurt someone.

"FURNNUCULOS!" She screamed, and I immediately felt boils pop up on my face.

"Really, Granger? Really? Is this how you're going to be? I do something you don't like and you hex me?" I sighed and headed down the stairs where Fred and George waited for me.

"I see she didn't take the news so well."

"Nope. Fix this." It was a spell Percy occasionally liked to use on the twins. A quick Finite incantatem put everything back to normal.

"Looks like this year is going to be more interesting than we thought," Fred said we headed up to the dorm.

I looked at my new bed then shook my head, knowing it wouldn't be getting much use. My eyes went wide when I saw the heart blanket and matching pillow laid out on top of the comforter. I rushed to get it and hide it before the twins noticed it, but I was too late.

"Aww how sweet. Ickle Anna kept presents from when she was a little girl," he chuckled.

"Let's not forget who got ickle Anna these presents. It was ickle Gred and Forge."

"Touche, my dear, touche."

After a Welcome Party which was merely a game of exploding snap, we all went to bed. Of course I was curled up with George since I had curled up with Fred last time.

"George, you snore," I said as I shook him awake. "Stop it or you'll be dealing with a very moody Annabelle in the morning."

"I don't snore," he mumbled, immediately falling back to sleep. I rolled my eyes and eventually managed to fall asleep.

 **A/N: I probably spelled the spells wrong, but you get the general idea, right? Isn't Granger a piece of work? Jeez. Leave a review, please! A nice one though. Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see happen! -Sally**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Well, it's Your Fault, Really**

 **A/N: Another installment of Double the Trouble. I don't own anything other than Annabelle and Hermione's crappy attitude. Enjoy! Thank you so so so much for the reviews and the new followers! I love you all, sorry I haven't sent you a PM yet, though. And Sarah, I do agree that this fic is awesome, but I doubt it's the best fic ever. Glad you like it!**

 **This is a sad one, so grab a box of tissues!**

Let's skip ahead to the end of the year. Harry saves the world, blah, blah, blah. Whoop- dee- freakin'- doo. Anyway, we were on the Hogwart's Express heading to King's Cross Station, pranking younger students and talking about what we would be doing over the summer. Percy automatically assumed he would end up head boy . I rolled my eyes at him. He was probably right, but it was quite annoying having to hear him say it over and over and over. Hermione dropped in of course, taunting me a bit about having higher grades than me and that I would probably end up expelled before the end of the year.

"Just leave us alone," I said, sighing. "we've heard it all before. Get some new material, for Merlin's sake. You're worse than Malfoy, seriously."

The twins chuckled as Hermione's face went bright red. After what seemed like forever, we arrived at the station. A quick ride in a ministry car left me dropped off at home and the Weasleys back to the burrow. The house was eerily quiet and the door was locked.

"Mum, Dad, I'm home!" I said, expecting them to come rushing towards me full of hugs and kisses. I was met with silence, only silence. I walked quietly around the house and into the living room where furniture was turned on its side, pictures broken and knocked off of the walls. I started panicking as I kept walking through the house. When I reached the bathroom, I screamed. On the floor rested my parents with a note attached to my mother's broken arm.

 _Maybe this will teach you to respect your superiors and not meddle in things you needn't be meddling in._

Lucius Malfoy. It had to be. I quickly flooed the Weasleys, Molly and Arthur arrived almost immediately and looked at the damage. Molly gasped as she saw my parents' broken bodies.

"Oh, Annabelle, I'm so sorry," she kept repeating as she wrapped me into a big hug.

"Molly, I can't breathe," I gasped. She let me go and wiped her eyes. Arthur flooed the ministry and aurors arrived shortly after. I was asked many questions, none of which I had a decent answer for. I was completely overwhelmed with everything, how was I supposed to remember what time I got home or what I did immediately after arriving? They kept asking the tiniest little details and finally I couldn't take it anymore.

"Everyone just SHUT IT!" I yelled. "I've told you all I know, so quit asking me questions. I walked in, found stuff ruined, then found my parents' bodies. That's it, now leave me alone."

The bodies were removed and taken to St. Mungos for further evaluation.

"Is there a relative she can stay with until other arrangements are made?" Auror Davis asked Arthur.

"Other arrangements?" Molly said, completely outraged.

"Yes, seeing as she is still a minor, she will need an appropriate guardian."

"She can move in with us," Arthur told Davis. "We've got the extra place and she's more than welcome. She spends the majority of the summer at our place anyway."

"Are you willing to make this permanent?"

"You mean like adopt her?"

"All you need to do is fill out some paper work and you will be her legal guardians."

"We'll be at the ministry tomorrow to fill out the forms."

"Excellent. I'm sorry for your loss, Miss Hughes," he said, heading towards the fireplace.

"Sorry for my loss? Sorry for my loss? You don't know me, you didn't know my parents, you don't know anything about us other than my parents are dead. You're not sorry for my loss, you're sorry that you'll have extra paperwork to do. Let me save you some research, it was Lucius Malfoy that did it. He's the only one who ever had a problem with me and my family. Now get the hell out of my house."

He nodded and disappeared in the green flames. Before he left, his eyes were wide and his face red. I couldn't help but wonder if I was the first one to call him on his shit. I glared at the other aurors who nodded and quickly left. As soon as they left, I fell to the floor sobbing. Molly helped me stand and took me home leaving Arthur to bring some of my essentials back. The rest would be brought in the morning.

Once we went back to the burrow the rest of the Weasley clan rushed into the kitchen to find out what happened.

"Lucius Malfoy killed my parents."

"Do you know why?" Ginny asked. She was so smart for her age.

"I'm not sure. Something about respecting my elders. Might be from that trip to Diagon Alley a few years ago...I don't know why he would wait so long to get his revenge..."

Once the twins hugged me, I completely broke down again until I had no tears left in me and my voice was hoarse. They never let go of me which I was very thankful for. They always seemed to know what I needed whenever I needed it, which was something I was also thankful for.

"I...I need to lay down...I'm so tired," I whispered. The twins nodded, and Fred picked me up gently.

"Get some sleep, darling," I heard Molly say before I fell asleep on the way upstairs.

I woke up when I was set down on the bed, blinking and rubbing my eyes as I took in my surroundings.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up," Fred aid quickly.

"It's okay," I whispered, my voice not letting me talking any louder than that.

"Do you want us to stay?" George asked as he walked into the room. "We can leave you alone, if you'd like."

"Please don't leave," I said as started crying again. (Apparently I still had some tears in there that I didn't know about.)

"We won't then." The three of us squished together in one bed, the twins' arms wrapped around me tightly. They both kissed the top of my head.

"We're here for you, you know that right?" George asked. I nodded.

"Anything you need, just ask."

"I don't know what I'd do without you guys," was the last thing I said before falling to sleep. Unfortunately, all too soon I woke up screaming from a nightmare. I couldn't get the image of my dead parents out of my head and it was tormenting me that I knew it was my fault.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Fred said quietly. "It's just us."

"Please don't leave," I begged.

"Never," they said at the same time.

I didn't wake until the next morning, still surrounded by the twins. Molly and Arthur were already at the ministry to fill out the necessary forms. Ron and Percy were sitting in the living room playing wizard's chess, and Ginny was browsing through a book she would need for her first year. I set about making Fred, George, and I some breakfast since we had slept in and had missed it. Of course, there were no left overs. I didn't make anything too fancy, just scrambled eggs with cheese, ham, and mushrooms in it. We sat in silence while we ate, it seemed like they were afraid to say anything to me.

"Guys, stop being so quiet. It's just weird."

"Sorry," the twins said.

"Who's cooking?" Ron asked as he walked in.

"I did, and before you ask, no. There are nor leftovers. I only made enough for the twins and I."

"Will you make some more?" I sighed but set about cooking anyway since it seemed like everyone wanted a second breakfast. I set the dishes in the sink and was about to start on them when Percy cast the spell to make them clean themselves.

"Thanks, Percy."

"Not a problem." At that he walked back into the living room. I followed and sat on the couch between the twins who were arguing over quiddich teams. Fred was pro Irish while George was pro Bulgaria.

Having Molly and Arthur take care of the funeral arrangements lifted a load of stress off of my shoulders, but nothing would keep the image out of my head. I had to speak at the funeral and broke down before I could finish the speech. Percy had been kind enough to apparate me back to the burrow. I immediately ran up to the twins' room and cried long after everyone had arrived back. Molly had finished my speech for me, as well as one of her own.

A few days later, I was playing quiddich with everyone (me being seeker against Ginny.) I had done everything I could think of to keep my mind off of what had happened. The twins and I had perfected Extended Ears, Puking Pastels, and Nosebleed Nougats. I caught the snitch before Ginny, but I had a sneaking suspicion that she had let me win.

"You know, it's all your fault, really," Ron said, looking up at me after I had landed.

"What's my fault? That you can't block any shots?"

"No...it's your fault your parents died." I couldn't do anything other than blink and try to hold back my tears. It was a thought that had been floating around in my head quite frequently, but hearing it out loud was a whole different feeling. I put my head down, looking at the grass.

"I know," I said quietly before walking away.

"What did you do to her?" I heard George ask.

"Told her the truth is all."

"What exactly did you tell her and why did she just walk away crying?"

"Like I said, I only told her the truth. I told her it was her fault her parents died, we all know it's true, I just had the balls to do it."

"You...I can't even think of a bad enough word to describe you, so I'll settle for this!" Fred yelled before punching his younger brother in the face. Fred chased after me, finally catching up as I made it to the pond, leaving George to give Ronald the proper beating he deserved.

"He was wrong, you know that, right?" Fred asked as he turned me around once I had stopped walking. I said nothing, but threw myself against him squeezing him as hard as I could. He seemed to get the idea and hugged me back just as hard.

"Yes it is," I said quietly, not pulling away from him.

"And why is that?"  
"If I wouldn't have yelled at Lucius, he wouldn't have been angry and vindictive enough to kill my parents. If I had just kept my mouth shut, they'd still be alive," I said, choking back tears.

"I doubt that had anything to do with it. Malfoy probably ran to his daddy every time something bad happened to him and he wanted to get revenge on the one person who was always one step ahead of his darling little boy. It's not your fault, Annabelle Lee Hughes!"

I nodded and wiped away my tears. I didn't believe him, but I would act like it. I didn't want my twins to hurt and I could tell they were every time I got all depressed.

We headed inside where Molly automatically questioned us about why I was so upset. Fred did all the talking for me.

"Ronald said WHAT?! Oh, that boy isn't going to be able to sit for a week!"

"I don't think he'll be doing much at all," George said as he pushed Ronald into the house. "Now say you're sorry, Ronald."

"I'm sorry," he said, blood splattering out of his mouth due to a tooth being knocked out and a split lip. His nose appeared to be broken and was limping something fierce.

"Okay," I said. I didn't believe him but it would do for now.

"Aren't you going to yell at them for beating me up?" Ron asked his mum.

"No. You got what you deserved. I'll clean up the worst of it, but you'll be healing the muggle way. No pain potions for you, young man."

The twins and I went back outside for a game of exploding snap before dinner.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Not so Happy Birthday**

 **A/N: Once again, thanks t everyone that read, reviewed, etc. I love you all! Alright it was brought to my attention that some of the things happening in this story don't make sense. Let me clear them up. Annabelle refers to the students getting pranked as "younger students" because it was a habit she picked up from the twins. Anything that got pulled from other years into her first year, my bad. As for Percy talking about being head boy, he didn't necessarily mean the following year. They had been talking about the twins and Annabelle getting expelled, and Percy was saying he would be head boy...repeatedly, correct? Alright I think that sums it up. If you have anymore questions, don't be afraid to let me know.**

 **I don't own anything other than Annabelle Lee Hughes.**

It was my birthday and the Weasleys were trying to make a big deal out of it to make be feel better. It had been months since _it_ happened, but I still felt as horrible as I did the day it happened. I hid it well, even the twins didn't notice. Bill and Charlie even showed up for the party, which shocked the hell out of me.

The party was nothing elaborate, we just sent up a tent and a table outside since it was so nice. I had more presents than I thought I would have which was easy since I wasn't expecting anything. I got a hug from everyone and kiss on the cheek from Molly. I was wedged in between the twins as normal as the cake was cut.(Red velvet, my favorite!) What surprised me the most, and ruined the whole day was when my dear, dear, sister walked into the tent.

"What the hell are you doing here?"  
"Ron invited me, of course. I wanted to be here for my sister's birthday."

"Yes, well your sister doesn't want you here. I've had enough crap happen to me the last few months, I don't need you here to ruin what could be a good day for me."

"Oh, you mean your parents dying? It was all over the Prophet. Such a shame, really. You just can't seem to keep a family for very long. I wonder how much longer it will be until something horrible happens to the Weasleys and they get rid of you, too."

"Go away, Granger."

"You know, Mr. Malfoy didn't take it to well that you tried to frame him for the deaths of your parents. His name was cleared, and it was blamed on muggles. You never know, he might try to do something to get back at you for that."

"Shut up, Granger," I snapped, getting angrier by the second. "Get. Away. From. Me. Go home and never speak to me again. Understood?"

"Still on about the "you're not my sister," thing, are you? Well, that's just silly. Everyone knows we are. After all, we do look exactly the same."

"Granger, what the hell are you doing here?" Fred asked as he stood beside me. George was quick to follow.

"Ron invited me, of course."

"Well, you are uninvited. Leave. Now."

"Or what? You'll beat me up like you did your poor brother?"

"Just leave, Granger," I told her before I walked towards the bigger group of people.

"Is that Hermione Granger I see over there?" Molly said. I nodded. "What on earth is she doing here?"

"Ronald invited her," I explained. "No, I did not know about it, no I did not mention wanting her here and no, I do NOT want her here."

"Why would Ronald invite her? He didn't even ask permission for her to come over!"

"Mum, I was just trying to get them to patch things up, you know. It's not right for sisters to be acting like they do. It's just wrong."

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, the way Granger and I act is completely between her and I. You have nothing to do with it. No matter what she says, I do not want anything to do with her. I don't care if she breaks down in tears to try to get you and Harry to interfere, I do NOT want anything to do with her. I don't want to speak to her, I don't want to look at her, and I do not want her in the same room as me if I can avoid it. Is that understood?"

"Yeah, yeah," He said, flinching as my voice rose. He seemed to have learned his lesson when it came to lecturing me. Upsetting me too much led to him being in large amounts of pain.

"I don't care if your parents died and that it's your birthday, you have no right to speak to Ron and I like that," Granger said as she joined the group. "Come to think of it, I don't care that your parents died at all and I couldn't care less that it's your birthday."

"Then why are you here?" Charlie asked, getting pissed off.

"I'm afraid I'm not alone," said giving me one of the most malicious smile I had ever seen.

"Then who's with you?"

"Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, I'm sorry to inform you that petition to become Miss Hughes' guardian has been challenged," another voice added.

"What are on earth are you talking about?" Molly asked the auror that stepped up beside Granger.

"Miss Hughes' biological parents found out about the unfortunate happenings earlier this summer and have petitioned to become her guardian as well. Seeing as the Grangers are her biological family, the Wizengamot has decided to side with them."

"WHAT?!" I yelled. "They ABANDONED ME when I was FIVE YEARS OLD and you call them FAMILY!? They are NOTHING to me! I REFUSE to go back to them. You hear me?! I REFUSE!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Hughes, but it is the law."

"Well the law can sod off then! I will NOT be going back!"

"Mcgregor, this has got to be a mistake," Arthur said.

"I wish it was, Arthur."

"Can't you just side step some paperwork or something? She's our family! How can you want to send her back to a family who didn't want her in the first place?"

"If it was up to me, she'd be staying right here. Unfortunately for all of us, it's not up to anyone but the Wizengamot. Miss Hughes, you'll have to come with me."

"Can't I get some of my things?"

"I was told to let you know that your parents will provide anything you need so there is no reason for you to bring along old items."

"But..."

"No objections." I nodded and let a tear fall down my face.

"Come on, just a few things! It's her birthday after all, at least let her have her presents!" Fred insisted.

"Don't worry, Anna, we'll find a way to get you away from them," George whispered in my ear. I clung on to him for dear life, afraid that if I let go he would just disappear.

The auror nodded and collected all of them.

"Wait here, I forgot a couple things!" Fred said, running towards the house. He returned with a magenta and orange gift bag and handed it to me.

"You can keep Gred, write to me when you can," I told my favorite twins.

Twenty minutes later I was standing in the Ministry of Magic staring in the faces of my biological parents.

"Happy birthday, Annie!" They said as they pulled me in for a hug.

"Do NOT call me Annie!"

"Is that anyway to speak to your parents?"

"Oh sod off! You took me away from my friends, from my REAL family on my BIRTHDAY!"

"Real family? Darling WE'RE your real family. Besides, from what I've heard that place you've been staying is a real hovel. We'll get you everything you need and could ever want," my biological mother told me.

"Mrs. Granger, you haven't been family in a very long time. We may be related by blood, but you are _nothing_ to me and you are definitely _not my family."_

"I told you they brainwashed her!"

"Brainwashed? What are you talking about?"

"They brainwashed you! The people who adopted you and the Weasleys! they brainwashed you into hating your real family!"

"That didn't take brainwashing. I hated her, ALL of you, long before I met any of them. And stop calling yourselves my _real family_!"

"Stop speaking to your sister like that!"

"Mr. Granger, she is not my sister, Mrs. Granger is not my mother, and you are not my father. My parents are...were...Zach and Melissa Hughes."

"Nonsense. Now, let's get home."

"Why don't you just leave those here?" Hermione said. "You won't be needing anything _they_ could give you," she smirked as my parents nodded in agreement. I silently pleaded with them to change their minds but I was only allowed to bring one. I grabbed the bag from Fred and George and followed them out the visitors entrance.

"You've got your own room, now," Mrs. Granger said. "No more sharing with anyone! Hermione told me they had you sharing a room with _boys_!"

"Yeah, I shared with the twins."

"How inappropriate! Girls should not share rooms with boys!"

"And biological parents should not take daughters they sent away years ago away from a healthy, loving environment."

"Healthy? Oh darling, I hardly call that healthy."

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

When we arrived home, Hermione was told to give me the grand tour.

"Just show me my room and the bathroom. After that, get the bloody hell away from me," I said, clutching the orange and magenta bag to my chest.

"No need to be rude. This is for the best, you know. You're with your real family now, and we can finally be sisters!"

I was silent, knowing nothing I would say would talk any sense into her.

"This is your room," She said, opening a door on the left side of the hallway. I instantly had a flashback of the first time I had been shown around mum and dad's house and it brought me to tears.

"Happy tears, I hope," She said, grinning at me.

"You had them take me back just so you could make me miserable, didn't you?"  
"Why would you think a thing like that? I'm your sister and sisters should be together."

"Why would I think a thing like that? You've made fun of me, spread rumors about me, and hexed, and HIT me to the point where I was moved to the boys' dorms with the twins so you couldn't hurt me while I slept! And you wonder why I would think you're just trying to make my life hell. For a know-it-all, you're a complete idiot."

Once the tour was over, I returned to my room and flung myself on my bed, tears flowing out of my eyes as I opened the gift from the twins. Inside were three Weasley sweaters, one of mine then one of each of there's. I tended to wear their shirts quite often since I couldn't be bothered to go through my own.

My eyes went wide as I remembered something from earlier that day. I stormed out of my room and ripped open my sister's door.

"What did you mean when you said something about the Weasleys getting hurt?" I demanded.

"Nothing...nothing.." She said, grinning at me again.

"Don't toy with me, Granger. Tell me!"

"I didn't mean _physically_ of course."

"Then what did you mean!?"

"They just might be finding themselves a little more financially unstable in the near future. After all, Mr. Weasley is far too obsessed with muggles and from what I've heard is slacking a little at the office. The minister is getting quite sick of him not pulling his weight."

"How have you been hearing all of this?"

"Through Draco, of course."

"Hanging out with Malfoy now, eh? Do Harry and Ron know?"

"Not a clue, and you won't be saying a word."

"Why would Malfoy be giving you the time of day, anyway? You're a muggle born!"

"Let's just say we're...close."

"You're TWELVE! You can't POSSIBLY mean that."

"No, not THAT. We have a common enemy, is all. The enemy of thine enemy is a friend, after all."

"The Weasleys? What on earth do you have against them? I know what Malfoy's problem with them is, but you? What have they ever done to you?"

"They stole my sister!"

"Stole your...what the hell are you going on about?"

"WE were supposed to be friends at school! WE were supposed to get close again, but THEY had to go and accept you, make you feel _wanted_ and _cared about_. No more misfit Annabelle!"

"So you want to ruin their lives because they're my friends? That makes no sense."

"It's not just me, you know. Mum and Dad don't like it either."

"You've all gone crazy," I said as I walked out of her room wondering what the hell was going on. If only I hadn't left Gred with the twins.

 **A/N: Well, Hermione just had to go and ruin everything, didn't she? What on earth are the Grangers on about? Did they have something to do with Annabelle's parents being murdered? You'll just have to keep reading to find out!**

 **Thanks for reading, and leave a review! Unless you're going to be a total dick and leave me a rude comment, I'd appreciate hearing from you.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Sometimes, Things Never Change**

 **A /N: Thanks to Nanetezze for catching a couple mistakes in the last chapter, thanks much! Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! So, I've decided I really need a beta reader since I miss things even after re-reading the chapter half a dozen times, let me know if you're interested:)**

Somethings never change, such as my "parents" attitude towards me. I was still a freak, I was still a no good piece of crap, etc, etc. All in all, life was miserable and Hermione was reveling in it. Gred flew back and forth frequently with letters from Ron and Harry to Hermione, if I received anything, it was thrown away before I had the chance to read it. Every time Hermione got a letter, she made sure she rubbed it in my face constantly.

One night, I was up reading a muggle book called IT by Stephen King when Hermione walked into my room. Her eyes went wide and darkened in anger. She stomped over to me, and knocked the book out of my hand.

"What the hell was that for? Do you have some sort of hatred for Stephen King? Or is it clowns? Perhaps you're just being a bitch. Care to let me know?"

"Shut up!"

"You took me away from my family, my friends, everyone that actually cares about me. Why? And don't try to feed me anything about Malfoy."

"Because you don't deserve to be happy."

"Um...why?"

"Because...I can't either."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"I may have fibbed when I said they were thrilled that I was a witch..." she said with a voice barely above a whisper. I snorted.

"Karma is a bitch, isn't it?"

"Don't you care at all?"

"Why should I? This family abandoned me because I'm different and you were cruel. Why should I care if they treated you badly because you have the same so-called disability as me? I call it Karma. On top of that, you brought me here just to make me miserable and turn me into the family punching bag."

"They're putting me through everything they did to you! The only reason they haven't abandoned me is because I'm too old and it would make them look bad!"

"So?"

"If..if you're here...they take our abnormalities out on you and not me. After all, you were the first failure. The fact that we're twins only makes you more of a distraction."

"You ruined my life because you were sick of being a punching bag."

"That about sums it up."

"You know I would have found a way to help you if you would have told me what was going on. Maybe if you would have been nice to me at our little 'reunion' things would be different, but no. You had to be cruel, just down right nasty. You spread rumors about me, hexed me, ruined my potions, made fun of me...you expect me to want to help or even give a shit about you? What I care about is that my life is ruined because you won't stick up for yourself. You are a horrible person, Hermione. You could have gone to the authorities, both muggle and magical. You could have talked to Dumbledore or Mcgonagall, but instead you sacrifice your sister. You are even worse than them," I told her.

"No, I'm not. I'm an opportunist. I saw a chance to make you as unhappy as me and I took it. You shouldn't be allowed to be happy, to have friends, people that care about you, you don't deserve it!"

"What the hell have I done to not deserve it?"

"Because you're the one who ruined this family! You just _had_ to be a witch and just _had_ to flaunt your magic and look like a freak! It's because of YOU that my parents have such a horrible view of witches!"

"I was three! I didn't know how to control it! Don't blame the dysfunction of this sad excuse of a family on me, damn it! You should have been in Slytherin! You don't have a single Gryffindor quality in your body!"

"And you're nothing but a whore! Running around with two boys, sharing their dorms and most likely their beds!"

"What?"

"You heard me, and I'm not the only one who thinks it!"

"Well, anyone who thinks anything like that is blind as a bat! Fred, George and I are nothing like that! They were the first friends I ever had, they're the only ones who I trust completely, who have kept me from _killing you,_ and you try to turn it into something sexual. Why, why are you trying to ruin it for me? You fucking bitch! You can't leave well enough alone because you are a miserable excuse of a human being. Misery loves company you know, you...Merlin, I can't even think of a word bad enough to describe you!"

As we heard footsteps coming down the hall, Hermione grinned at me and immediately started sobbing. Of course, Mr. Granger ran to her rescue, which was bound to have consequences for me and unpleasant ones at that.

"Why are you crying, sweetheart?"

"She's scaring me!"

"What did she do?" He said, turning his head toward me.

"She wants to _kill_ me! She'll hex me as soon as we get back to school! She's...she's EVIL! You have to do something about it, Daddy!"

"Don't worry, sweetheart, now go to your room."

"Yes, Daddy."

"So, you think it's okay to scare your sister? It's okay to try to hex her or kill her?"

"I did nothing of the sort! She's lying to you!"

"You haven't changed at all, you little freak. You useless piece of shit. Don't bother to hide from me," he said as I backed away and into a corner. He stalked over to me, belt in hand. I winced as the tears started silently falling from my face as I waited for the pain. I was already bruised, but apparently that wasn't enough.

"STUPEFY!" I heard someone yell as the door was blown open. I started openly crying in relief as I bolted from the room as fast as I could. I was stopped at the top of the stairs from Molly Weasley who wrapped me in a hug. I hiss in pain and tried to get out of her grasp. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the kindness, it just kind of hurt...a lot.

"I'm sorry, dear. Let's get a good look at you." She held me at arms length and took in my appearance.

Her eyes teared up as she looked me up and down. "We'll get them, don't you worry. They will pay for what they've done to you. I'm not sure what will happen to Hermione, but I hope she gets what she deserves. I didn't bother to ask for details, I was too tired by that point.

"What did they do to you?" she asked me as she looked at each bruise.

"Beat me with belts, punched me, kicked me...How did you find me?"

"We finally managed to trace your magic after you let out an accidental shield charm. I'm sorry we didn't make it sooner."

"Thank you for rescuing me."

"You're welcome dear. Oh, out of the way, the aurors are bring out Mr. and Mrs. Granger."

They had been petrified and Hermione followed them in handcuffs. I smiled at her and gave her a little wave. She had done her fair share of physical and emotional damage as well. I wondered what would happen to her, but found that I didn't care all that much.

"Where are Fred and George?"

"Back at the burrow, we figured it was a bad idea for them to come to your rescue. You know how protective they are of you." I nodded.

"Will I have to stay in my own room, or will I still be able to share a room with the twins?"

"I know you've always felt safest there, after all of this I wouldn't let you sleep anywhere else for now." I chose to ignore the last part of her statement.

"Hermione let something slip saying something about something bad happening to you guys, are you all okay?"

"Well, Arthur lost his job,"

"She said something like that would happen.."

"He got a promotion dear. He's head of his department, it's a lot better pay and he loves it even more. He gets a little more leeway with how much he messes with muggle things."

"She had me terrified for quite awhile. She also said she might have had something to do with my parents dying...at least through Malfoy."

"She's so young, I doubt she'd be able to."

"But she's been spending time with Malfoy and she hates me...who knows what she could have done."

"We'll tell the aurors and have them do an investigation. Would that make you feel better?"

"Much."

"I think we need to take a trip to St. Mungos and get you checked out. There might me internal damage," Molly said as she rested a hand on my should. I nodded and followed her to the living room.

"Arthur, we're going to St. Mungos, let the twins know. I'm sure they're going crazy wondering how she is."

"Of course, Molly. We'll be there shortly." Molly nodded and led me to the fireplace where we flooed to the hospital. She checked me in at the reception desk and almost immediately we were taken back to the emergency room.

"What happened to you? The nurse asked. I gave her a brief over view of what had happened the last couple of months.

"You poor, poor girl. Come, let's check you out for some other injuries. Lie back now."

I nodded and laid back on the bed. She waved her wand over me and 'tsked' as she discovered broken ribs.

"I'll be right back, we need a mediwitch to fix up those ribs. I'll be right back." I nodded. I heard what sounded like two people running towards my room, and I was right.

"Are you okay!?" Fred and George asked at the same time.

"Broken ribs and some bruises, other than that okay. Nothing that can't be fixed."

"You look like you've been through hell and back," Fred said as he walked over to me. He grabbed my hand. His eyes seemed to tell me that he had failed at keeping me safe, George's expression said the same.

"Don't worry, you didn't fail at keeping me safe, it was something that couldn't be controlled."

"You know us so well," George said, chuckling.

"Alright, let's get you all fixed up," the mediwitch said as she walked into the room. A few spells, cracks, and ow that hurts, later we were on our way to the burrow. I was thankful the bruises had been removed, I didn't really want to walk around looking like I had been beaten within an inch to my life.

I smiled as we arrived at the front door, it was great to be home. When we walked in, I looked around like I had never been there before with a tear running down my face. I was safe, no one was going to hurt me, and I didn't have to be scared anymore. I yawned, suddenly very, very tired.

"Why don't you go upstairs and take a nap?"

"I feel like we've had the conversation before," I said, grinning at her.

"We have, haven't we?" I nodded. "Well, go lay down nonetheless. You look exhausted. Fred, George, why don't you head up with her."

The three of us headed upstairs where I made a pit stop at the loo and the twins headed off to our room. When I walked in, they had moved the two beds together so we didn't have to smoosh up on one bed. I smiled as they piled blankets and pillows on the bed like we had always done. Once the bed was made, I stole a shirt from Fred and shorts from George before going back to the loo to change. I crawled into bed between the bed and they immediately wrapped their arms around me. The only thing on my mind before I drifted off was _home._

When I woke up a few hours later, I was still in the middle of an Annabelle sandwich. I shook each of them awake so I could wiggle my way out. I made my way downstairs and couldn't help but overhear the adults talking about me.

"She can't share a room with the twins much longer. Think about it, they're all getting older and she is obviously starting to develop," I heard Molly say. "I know that is what she needs right now, but..."

"I know what you mean, Molly, but it has always been completely platonic with the three of them and they depend on each other so much. Do you really want to take away that stability, especially after what Anna has been through? We can always give it a trial period to make sure nothing happens. I don't think we should have Anna go back to sharing a room with Ginny, yet. She needs them and you saw how the boys were when she was gone. They were worried half to death, were completely out of sorts and basically couldn't function very well."

"I know, but now she's back. Her moving to a different room is different."

"It's not like she would stay there anyway. She would either go to them or they would go to her. What's the point? I still don't think we should take that away from them."

"You...you want to move me to my own room?" I said as I walked into the kitchen.

"Anna, dear, you must understand. The three of you are getting older..." Molly said.

"Molly...I understand that...but.." I started crying.

"Anna, please don't cry..." I snuffled and wiped my eyes.

"If you really think I should go back to sharing with Ginny...it's your house you make the rules."

"We wouldn't have you share, you'd be able to have Bill or Charlie's room."

"Oh...I know I have no right to ask, seeing as it's your decision and all, but please, _please_ don't make me sleep alone...I need to be with the twins. We can sleep in separate beds so I don't have to share with them. We could have bunk beds or something, just please don't make me sleep without them!" I begged.

"Alright, dear. You make some good points. We won't make you move."

"Thank you," I said before hugging her.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Ron asked. "You're supposed to be with Hermione."

"Well Hermione and her family are headed to jail."

"What for?"

"They all beat the hell out of me. When the aurors and your parents got there, I was black and blue and had broken ribs.

"Liar, Hermione would never do something like that!"

"Don't believe me? Go ask your parents!"

"You faked it to make people feel sorry for you!"

"Then ask the nurse and mediwitch that helped me at St. Mungos! You...you helped her with everything, didn't you?"

"Well, I did agree that the two of you should be closer, being sisters, and that you sharing a room with the twins just isn't right."

"You rat bastard!" I yelled before punching him.

"Ow, you bitch!"

"What's going on here?" Arthur said as he followed the sound of our voices.

"Ron just told me he had a part to play in my getting taken away and having the shit beat out of me!"

"Is this true, son?"

"I didn't say that, I just said that I agreed with Hermione!"

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, I don't want to see you for the rest of the night. Pack up a few things, you'll be staying with your Aunt Tessie for awhile."

"But Dad!"

"Don't even start with me Ronald. That's how it's going to be, now go!"

"Do I get to eat supper?"

"I'll have Ginny bring something up."

He nodded and headed back upstairs where he ran into the twins.

"We heard what you said, Ronald. You're going to pay for what you did, we'll make sure you do." George said as he pinned his brother against the wall.

"Have fun at Aunt Tessie's."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: Skipping ahead a Few Years**

 **A/N: Yup, skipping a few years. Ten chapters in, I think it's time for a little romance and it seemed pretty odd to have a twelve year old getting all romantic with an older boy or two, right? As of right now, Annabelle is in her 5** **th** **year making her 15 and the twins in 7** **th** **year making them 17. Not too shabby in the wizarding world, I think.**

 **Anyway, thanks everyone for reading, reviewing etc. I love you all. I'm still looking for a beta/muse. Let me know if you're interested.**

 **I don't own anything.**

Fifth year. Three years after the hell I was put through and now I would have to deal with Granger. She had been put in what muggles call "juvie," a sort of jail for those under 18. She would be released at the beginning of the school year, having gotten out early on 'good behavior.' Apparently my nervousness was damn near tangible since absolutely everyone commented on it constantly. It was always, 'oh it will be find dear' or 'Dumbledore won't let anything happen' to 'don't worry, we'll protect you.' It was reassuring and annoying at the same time.

Molly and Arthur had been true to their word and I still shared a room with the twins. They slept on bunk beds while my bed was on the other side of the room. My bed was rarely used, as expected and I usually found myself in the top bunk with Fred. No, nothing like that, not that I hadn't thought about it before...a couple times, okay, a lot. It was hard not to notice the quiddich toned bodies of the twins when they took their shirts off outside after game of quiddich or degnoming the garden. You'd have to be blind not to notice.

At the right ol' age of 15 I had hit puberty and filled out quite a bit. No more stick thin girl with no body shape, Annabelle 2.0 actually looked like a girl. I had proper curves and what not. I was pretty pleased with it as did Lee Jordan when he had come to visit over the summer. Fred and George didn't seem to appreciate him asking me out while he was at the burrow and disliked it even more so when I said yes. I got a hell of a lecture for that.

"You can't date him! He's too old!" Fred told me.

"Yeah, and he only wants you for one thing!" George added.

"It's not like he really likes you," they said at the same time.

"And why doesn't he 'really like me'?"

"Well, he's got a bit of a reputation, you know." George said.

"You'd be another notch in his bed post." Fred told me.

"Another notch in his bed post!? You really think I'd give it up just because he's the all popular Lee Jordan? Just because he's the first guy to ask me out...ever If I was going to give it up for someone popular, I'd have to polyjuice someone and fuck myself! We all know I'm more popular anyway, so that theory is out the window!"

"Of course you wouldn't give it up based on popularity. We just don't want you to get hurt and Lee has a reputation for being...persuasive."

"You really think I'm stupid enough to fall for his charms? You forget I've seen every play he has made on a girl!"

"Then you know how he is! If you've seen it all, why did you say yes!?"

"Because I've seen the other part of him! I know him better than those other girls! I won't fall for any of that crap, and you know it! Don't you trust me!?"

"It's not you we don't trust, it's Lee!" George explained.

"He's your other best friend and you don't trust him?"  
"Not when it comes to you. It'd take a blind man not to see how beautiful you are!" I blushed but it wasn't enough to keep me from being pissed off at them.

I didn't speak to them for a week, avoided them like the plague, and even shared a room with Ginny. They finally apologized, giving me permission to date whoever I wanted, but if I got hurt they'd kill him before saying 'I told you so'. I chuckled and nodded my head.

"Alright, alright. You're forgiven."

"Thank Merlin. Now, we're having a bit of a problem with the..."

"New version of puking pastilles?"

"Exactly."

"I suppose I could help."

Before we knew it, we were back on Diagon Alley getting our school supplies.

"Hello," I heard a quiet voice say from behind me.

"Hello, Granger."

"I just want to say I'm sorry...I know it's way too late for an apology to mean anything, but I wanted to just the same."

Gone was the bossy, condescending, know-it-all voice. It had been replaced with a quiet, shaking voice. She sounded like she was terrified of me. She wouldn't look at me, she just looked at her shoes awkwardly.

"Um...okay?" What else was I supposed to say, really? She had been locked up for a few years and it seemed to have taken a toll on her. She nodded then walked away. We never did find out if she had anything to do with my parents' deaths, nor could we tie it to Malfoy, so it was left to muggle police where they decided they didn't care.

A week later we were headed back to school on the Hogwart's Express, ready for the long ride. We had gotten a compartment with us and Lee Jordan. I went to sit by my boyfriend, but I was blocked by Fred who sat down beside him instead. I rolled my eyes and sat across from him. The twins both glared at Lee, though he seemed oblivious as he stared at my chest.

"Lee, I'm up here," I said as I pointed to my face. Ten minutes into the trip and I was already starting to believe the twins. After all, they'd never lied to me before and they knew him much better.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. They're just distracting,"

"Pig," I said as I covered up my chest as best I could. George leaned over to me.

"Told you so," he whispered, I could damn near feel the grin in his voice. I nodded.

"So I've noticed. Seriously, the first ten minutes spent together outside the burrow and I already want to break up with him. Honestly, are all men like this, or just him? If they are, I'm switching to the other team, if you know what I mean."

"Then break up with him, idiot."

"I said I was _thinking_ about it, not that I _would_."

******** George's POV********

All I could think was that Anna needed to get away from Lee. I knew he was going to end up hurting her and I couldn't let that happen. I'm sure Fred felt the same way. It may have been fueled by jealousy too, though. I couldn't help but notice how amazing Anna looked these days. Like I had told her you'd have to be blind not to notice it. I tried not to think about it since Anna was my best friend but it was impossible. I had talked to Fred about it because well, you know, we tell each other everything and apparently he felt the same about her which meant that neither of could make a move on her anyway.

The main problem was how to get Anna to break up with Lee. I looked to Fred who seemed like he was clueless as well. I whispered to Anna, telling her I had told her so about Lee. Instead of pulling away from her, I did the only thing I could think of and I...

Just as I thought he was going to turn away, George grabbed my chin, pulled my face towards him and kissed me. Not a peck on the lips, but a full blown, toe curling kiss. I was too shocked to respond so I pulled away quickly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You don't just go around kissing other bloke's girlfriends!" Lee shouted as he stood and lunged at George. I was still too stunned to react but I finally snapped out of it when Lee managed to punch George in the face. I kicked him in the balls as retaliation. Normally I wouldn't stoop to such a low level but that was the quickest way I could think of to get him away from George.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry for hitting you, George," he said as he writhed on the floor. "Just don't kiss my girlfriend again, this is a freebee, and no Fred, you don't get one." Lee pulled me into his lap once he had recovered and kissed me. It wasn't horrible, but there weren't any fireworks. We had kissed a few times over the summer but it couldn't compare to George's kiss. The rest of the ride, I tried to hold conversation and joke around as usual, but my mind wasn't all in it. I couldn't get the kiss out of my mind even though I was sitting on my boyfriend's lap. Even worse than day dreaming about George's kiss, I couldn't help but think what it would be like to kiss Fred. George and I kept grinning at each other which seemed to go unnoticed by everyone, except Fred of course.I hung back with Lee as we walked from the carriages to the castle.

"I thought neither of us were going to make a move," I heard Fred whisper. Lee didn't notice as he was trying to charm his way into my pants.

"You're just jealous you didn't get to kiss her."

"Maybe a little, but still we made a pact that neither of us would make a move on her!"

"I know, but it was the only way I thought I could do to convince her to break up with Lee!"

"It didn't go as planned did it?" Fred chuckled. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to my boyfriend.

"I still don't regret it."

"Now that we're together, you can share my bed when you sneak up to hang out with the twins," he said, winking at me. "I'd be glad to have you as company."

I smacked his chest as we walked.

"None of that now," I said with a slight chuckle. "we're not even near that step."

"But you sleep with the twins all the time!"  
"I sleep with them as in actually SLEEP, nothing more than that. You should know, you're in the same dorm."

"Well, by the looks of that kiss, I'd say otherwise," he said, trying to cop a feel.

"Lee, knock it off," I said, pushing his arm away. I quickly caught up to the twins and stood between them. I linked arms with them and ignored Lee until we got up to the common room for the night.

"I'm sorry, Anna, I shouldn't have said that. I know better," he said as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"It's fine," I said. "I understand the jealousy, after all who could resist these good looks." I smiled at him as I turned to face him.  
"I don't know how the twins have managed to overlook the fact that you're smokin' hot. Must be blind."

"Or it could be that we've been best friends for most of our lives and that's about the only way we see each other."

"Seems like George has other ideas in his head."

"Well, those ideas need to be shoved aside until you annoy me enough to break up with you."

"So, he's your fall back guy?"

"Something like that." Little did I know that both Fred and George heard that last part and had that mischievous gleam in their eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: A Brand new Granger**

 **A/N: So, thanks to everyone that's been reading.**

 **Still don't own anything.**

It was weird to be in the same classes and Granger and to only see a shadow of her former self. She didn't volunteer information, she was even _behind_ Ron when it came to casting spells. It made me uncomfortable. Yeah, I hate..hated? Her, but I didn't want her destroyed. I had just wanted her to learn her lesson. This was...this was just wrong.

"She deserves it," Ron had told me as he watched her suffer in Transfiguration.

"Yeah, no use feeling sorry for her," Harry added. They had become acquaintances of mine since Granger had been taken away. They annoyed the hell out of me, especially Ron who spoke before he thought and had a temper from hell. He had flipped his lid the first time he had seen Lee and I kiss and now that it happened more often he lectured me, often using the same reasons the twins had given me when the relationship first started. After so long, you'd think he'd just get over it.

"I didn't want this to happen to her. She's broken, I never wanted that. This is just...just wrong," Ronald."

"Since when do you care about her?"

"Since I see what happened to her. I mean, she's even dumber than _you_ and that's saying something." The insult seemed to go unnoticed as the bell rang. Everyone filed out of the class room as fast as possible, but I stayed behind for a moment.

"Granger," I said as I walked towards her.

"Yes?" She said quietly, it seemed like she was still afraid of me.

"You don't need to be afraid of me, Granger. I'm not going to do anything. I just wanted to ask what's wrong. I mean, you were so smart and now you're dumber than a box of rocks. What the hell happened?" Suddenly her attitude changed.

"What the hell do you care!? You're the one who did this to me! I don't need your damn pity now get away from me!" I stared at her, completely shell shocked before nodding and leaving the room, automatically starting for my daily search for Lee after the last class of the day.

"What's the matter, love?" He said as he took in my expression. I had found him in front of the Great Hall. Apparently he had decided to wait for me for once.

"Oh, nothing. Just Granger."

"She giving you trouble again?"

"No..no. She's just acting weird."

"So? Who cares? Now give me a kiss." I grinned and let him pull me against him. He kissed me hard on the lips, making one of the twins gag as they met up with us.

"Oh shush," I said as I pulled away. Doesn't _Angelina_ let you kiss her, Freddie?"

"Of course, but not in the middle of the hallway."

"What about you, Georgie? Doesn't _Alicia_ let you kiss her?"

"She broke up with me last night," he said, looking down at the floor.

"Ouch. Did she give you a reason why?"

"Yeah."

He didn't seem to want to talk about it, so I didn't press the issue. Fred kept looking at him oddly while Lee undressed me with his eyes which seemed to be the only thing he did lately. He had been making it awkward to sleep in the boys' dorm like Dumbledore had still given me permission to do so most of the time I slept in the common room since there was no room for me in the girls.' I wouldn't share a bed with him and that irritated him especially when I explained that I wouldn't because he wouldn't keep his hands to himself and I wasn't ready for that step. Then, of course, he would bring up me still sleeping next to Fred or George at night when I had a boyfriend. I tried to explain why but all he did was complain that I wouldn't sleep with him, and what he had in mind didn't include sleeping.

I went to the common room to sleep on the couch per normal when I saw someone else occupying it.

"Oi, that's my couch. Get off it!"

"Oh..I'm sorry," I heard the voice say. She sat up, revealing my twin who was sporting a black eye.

"Woah, what happened to you?"

"Lavender Brown."

"Why the hell would she do that?"

"She thinks that now that I'm back I'll be going after Ron again."

"So she punched you in the face. Wow, real mature of her. Did they kick you out or something?"

"I've been banned."

"Shitty."

"What are you doing down here?"  
"I'm still supposed to be sharing a dorm with the twins since you're back but Lee is making it all awkward."

"How so?"

"He keeps trying to get me to sleep with him...wait...why am I telling you this? I'm just giving you ammo to use against me!"

"Even if I wanted to start rumors, no one would listen to me anyway. Why didn't you just move into back into the girls' dorm?"

"There's no room for me there."

"Well, since I've been banned, why don't you just take my bed? I'm fine with sleeping down here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'm not interested in the twins or your boyfriend."

"Okay. Well...good night then." I headed up the stairs and crawled into the first empty bed I saw in the dorm.

"We _banned_ you Granger. What are you doing back."

"I'm not Granger."

"What are you doing here? You always sleep in the boys' dorm?" Lavender asked.

"None of your business."

"I bet it has something to do with Lee," Pavarti said, trying to get in on the gossip.  
"It's NONE OF YOUR GOD DAMN BUSINESS!" I yelled before closing the curtains, rolling over and trying to fall asleep. Just as I was about to doze off, I heard shouting in the common room.

"God, you're such a _freak_ ," I heard one of the older girls say to someone, I assumed it was Granger who was getting the third degree.

"I don't even know why you bothered to come back this year. No one wants you here, Granger! No one wanted you here before but after what you did to Anna we want nothing more than for you to drown in the black lake!"

"Wow, girls, calm down!" I said as I stepped into the room. "No need for name calling."

"Anna, you of all people are defending her? After everything that's happened to you because of her?"

"I'm not saying I like her, but I am saying you are being unnecessarily mean. She paid for what she did and now she's back. Whether she's wanted here, that is irrelevant. There's no need for immature name calling. I'm sure she's done nothing to you, so you've no reason to do this to her, or are you Slytherins? This is _their_ sort of thing to do, not Gryffindors."

"She has a good point," Lee said, walking up to my side.

"Oh please, you were about to start in before your girlfriend walked in. You're only siding with her to get in her pants!"  
"Get in her pants? I don't think there's a love potion invented strong enough to get her to even think about it."

"Stop it, Lee. This isn't their business," I whispered to him.

"Ashamed to be called out on being a prude? We've been together for months now and you still won't let me fuck you! Are you sure you're not gay because I've never seen you with another guy. You're awfully chummy with the twins' girlfriends you know. Trying to steal them away?"  
"SHUT UP LEE!" I screamed.

"I had always hoped the rumors Granger started about you were true. She made you sound like a great fuck. That's the only reason I asked you out! You know what, we're done! I can't deal with having to act the perfect boyfriend with no rewards anymore!"

Turns out the twins were right..as usual. They glared at him and I knew Lee was in for some pain.

Tears came to my eyes after the horrible things he said to me. Granger and I walked out of the room just in time to see the twins start beating the shit out of their former friend and my ex boyfriend.

"Thanks for helping me," my sister said quietly.

"You know, a simple spell could get rid of that black eye."

"I know, but Lavender stole my wand."

"I'm not one to tell on people, but maybe it's time for Lavender to get in trouble. She's been a right bitch since she got with Ron and driving everyone crazy."

"Why are you helping me?"

"You're my sister."

"After everything I did to you, I don't deserve to be called that."

"Once upon a time I didn't think you did either."

"But now you feel sorry for me."

"I don't feel sorry for you. I just see someone who needs help. You used to be such a strong, smart person and now you're like...well...you're like Neville was in first year."

"I know. I hate it, but I'm so.. _scared."_

 _"_ Of what?"

"Being smarter than everyone else is partially why I got into that mess to begin with, being a witch in general did, but you know that. What if I start being that know-it-all again and something else happens?"

"But what will happen if you flunk all of your classes? What then?"

"I know...I know.."

"Look, we're not friends and we probably never will be...but I'm here if you really need someone to talk to." She nodded and we walked the rest of the way to the hospital wing.

"Oh my, what happened to you?" Madam Pomfrey asked. Granger repeated the story. Pomfrey shook her head and muttered something under her breath.

"There all done," she told Granger. "I'll let Professor Mcgongal know what happened."

"What? No! You can't do that! It'll get even worse! I've already been banned from the dorm, who knows what they'll do next?"

"Banned...They can't ban you from your dorm, that's just ridiculous! I'll speak to your Head of House tomorrow."

"Okay..if you think that will help," Granger said reluctantly.

"Now, sorry if I'm being nosy, but you look like you've been crying an awful lot, Miss Hughes. May I ask why?"

"Oh, Lee said some rather nasty things about me in front of the whole house, then we broke up. It's not the breaking up part that's bothering me...it's what he said that's really bothering me."

"Want to talk about it?"

"No, not really."

"Understandable. You girls head back to your dorm. If you get any trouble for being out after curfew, just let them know you have my permission."

We nodded before starting the journey back to Gryffindor tower.

"I'm sorry about that rumors I spread. I know the apologies are long over due, but this is the first chance I've gotten to. If I wouldn't have started all those Lee wouldn't have said those things."

"What's done is done. I'm sure Gred and Forge have taken care of Lee and I'll get over the things he told me. Besides, him freaking out on me like that was bound to happen eventually." She nodded and once again, the trip was silent.

"I'm sorry," I heard Lee say from the couch. I snorted as I took in his beaten appearance.

"I take it Fred and George weren't happy with you."

"Not at all...but seriously, I am sorry. I shouldn't have talked to you like that, especially in front of other people."

"Not forgiven, but you can start on the road to forgiveness by sleeping on the couch from now on. I'll be staying with the twins again. I'm sure a quick talk with Granger's dorm mates will sort out the mess." I grinned as I followed Granger up the stairs.

I was right, a quick 'talk' to the girls sorted things out and Granger was allowed back into her room. I grinned as I headed back up to the twins' dorm.

"Angelina broke up with me," George said as he laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. "

"You told us that already, you know.."

"She said I was too protective of you and doesn't like how close we are."

"I'm sorry, Georgie."

"It's okay, I suppose. If she can't deal with us being friends, then it wouldn't have lasted with her anyway."

I nodded as I grabbed my usual tank top and shorts pajama set and crawled into bed next to him. He quickly gathered me in his arms and held me tight against him.

"I'm sorry I made Angelina break up with you. I know you were really into her."

"I was, but she kept on trying to stop me from being friends with you. That's why I avoided you when Lee, Fred, and I hung out with you."

"I kinda thought that was it."

He kissed the top of my head before I snuggled into his chest. We fell asleep quickly and woke to Fred crawling under the covers with us.

"Hello, Freddie," I whispered after trying to fight a yawn.

"Got lonely," he explained before he wrapped his arm around my waist and snuggled up to me as much as he could on the relatively small bed. I smiled, having missed the comfort of being smushed between them.

"Goodnight," I said before he kissed my temple.

"Night."

When we woke up again, we were glad to realize that 1) we didn't miss breakfast 2) it was Hogwmeade weekend and 3) Lee wasn't around.

I pushed Fred off the bed so I could get up and get ready. He landed with a loud humph before giving me the look that generally ended up with me being tackled to the ground. I shrieked and jumped as far away from him as I could before crawling onto the other side of the bed using George as a shield.

"Oi, that's cheating!" Twin number two said as rolled over, bringing me with him. I kept rolling and landed on the floor next to Fred who looked like he was about to attack. He pounced and suddenly I was squirming and laughing, trying to get away from the oh so horrible tickle attack.

"Uncle, uncle!" I yelled, finally managing to push one of my favorite gingers away. Unfortunately, Lee decided to walk in when our were mussed up and Fred and I were breathing heavily.

"Oh, I see how it is! We break up and you go running for them! Messing around with Fred though? I thought George was your fall out guy!"

"It's not what you think!" Fred yelled as Lee bounced back down the stairs, presumably to start a rumor about Fred, George, and I.

By the end of they day I went from a prude to a slut and Fred ended up single. We didn't let that ruin our day though. We visited the normal shops- apothecary, joke shop, three broomsticks, broom shop, etc. The Three Broomsticks was the last place we went to finish off the day with a butter beer or two. Over in the corner was my twin sister sitting by herself, her nose in a book. I smiled as I realized she was starting to be her own self again. I could only hope it wouldn't go too far though.

At one point Alicia and Angelina came in and left right away after seeing the three of us sitting in the far back joking around like the break ups hadn't effected any of us. We laughed as I pointed out that they were glaring at us and were probably going to start rumors, too. It wasn't something we weren't used to. Yes, we were quite popular, even with the rumors floating around but it seemed the more we didn't care about the rumors the more popular we got. It was pretty annoying, really. I was starting to think that staging a fight with them and making people think the "evil trio" had broken up. We had no idea where "evil trio" came from, someone just started referring to us and it caught on. On the other hand, I had a feeling it would only make things worse.

"Fall back guy, huh?" George asked once we were back in our dorm.

"Oh, what? Yeah, that's what Lee has called ever since you kissed me on the train. I suppose Angelina wasn't too happy to find out about that kiss, huh? I'm sure Lee told her after he broke up with me."

"What about poor Freddie, over here?" He pouted. I walked over to him and gave him a big wet kiss on the cheek.

"There ya go, Freddie. You got a kiss too," I said as George laughed. Suddenly, the both got serious which was never, ever, a good thing.

"Okay...what's going on..."

"We need to tell you something, and we hope it doesn't freak you out," Freddie said as he had me sit down on the bed.

"I'm sure it can't be that bad."

"I'm really not sure how to put this," George said as he sat next to me.

"Are you trying to tell me you have a crush on me?" I said, laughing so hard I grabbed my stomach. Neither of them said anything.

"I'll take that as a yes. So which one of you is it? Is it you, Georgie? You kissed me after all."

"Yeah, I do have a crush on you,"

"But so do I," Freddie added.

"Wait...what?"

 **A/N: Remember, Reviews are like crack for writers and I'd love some feed back from all of you, so leave a review please!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Never Thought I'd see the Day**

 **A/N: Well, now wasn't that fun? The twins are crushing on Anna and Granger is a shadow of her former self. Anyway, I don't own anything but Anna.**

 **Random side note: I just watched V for Vendetta and I cried like a damn baby at the end. Such a horrible ending:(**

"So, the two of you are crushing on me."

"Yeah," Fred said as he looked at the floor, trying to hide the trademark Weasley Blush.

"Just forget we said anything, okay? It's pretty obvious you don't feel the same way about either of us."

"No, what I'm marveling at is that you bring this up right after we all get dumped and Lee restarts the rumor of the three of us being together..you know...that way."

"Seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm thinking otherwise."

"No, the problem isn't that you brought it up, the problem is I can't decide which one of you I should kiss first."

The both looked at me, completely shocked and not quite believing me. I smirked and shook my head.

"Are you serious?" George asked.

"No, I'm Annabelle."

"Are you ever going to stop saying that? It's bad enough that we have to hear it from Potter." Fred said.

"Probably not. We know a guy named Sirius. You really expect me not to use that to my advantage? You're just jealous that I thought of it first!"

"I'm pretty sure his friends would have thought of it first," George said, grinning at me.

"I'm still gonna take credit for it. Anyway, back the original topic."

"Well?" They both said as they stared at me.

"You know, a relationship with all three of us is going to be a pain in the ass, right? That's how it's gonna be if I say yes. I'd never be able to choose between the two of you, anyway."

"Are you.."

"Saying what.."

"We think you are?" Fred finished. I smirked and kissed him softly on the lips.

"Maybe," I said, smirking at him.

"Both of us?"

"It's either both of you or neither of you. I suggest you learn to share."

They looked at each other and then me before nodding. I smiled at them as I stood up. Before I could step forward, Fred swooped in and I received the second toe curling kiss of my life. I smiled as I pulled away.

Once we all had taken showers (separately, of course), we headed downstairs for breakfast. There was one change though. Instead of having linked arms as per usual, we were holding hands.

"So, what Lee said is true, then?" Ron asked as he stared at our linked hands.

"What did Lee say?" Fred asked.

"He said he walked into the dorm to find you and Anna going at it like rabbits!"

"We weren't going at it at all, now I'd appreciate it if you'd stop talking shit about our girlfriend, thank you very much," George said as he released my hand and put his arm around my waist.

"Our? Wait, you're with _both_ of them?" Angelina said, glaring at me. "I knew something was going on with the three of you!"

"Yes, I am with BOTH of them. I couldn't very well decide which one to choose over the other. I don't know how you and Alicia did it."

"Well, first of all we're not sluts," Alicia said as she stood from the chair.

"What a coincidence, neither am I!" I said as I glared at her before I led the twins out of the common room and to the hallway.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," George said as he shook his head slightly.

"Since when have we let any sort of rumors or whatnot get to us?" I asked.

"She's right, you know. We'll just pull some pranks and everyone will forget about it."

"I'm always right and I completely agree with you."

We made our way to the Great Hall, still holding hands. We caught a few odd looks, but no drama.

"I was wondering when the three of you were going to end up dating," Ginny said with a smile. "It was inevitable, you know." I smiled as I sat down across the table from her.

"Lee rushed down here and started rumors about the three of you," Granger said quietly.

"We all told him to shut up and that he was just jealous. We've seen weirder things happen in this school," Harry said as he plopped down beside Ginny. "You know, like a three headed dog, a basilisk, dragons, trolls."

"And Umbridge, don't forget about her," Granger said, finally talking at a normal volume. "She's pure evil and wears far too much pink."

I was escorted to each class that day, which wasn't so out of the norm. It only stopped when Lee and I had started dating and got all uppity about it. I noticed that Granger wasn't in any of my classes and as much as I hated to admit it, I was kind of worried. Lee, Angelina, and Alicia continued to glare at us constantly while everyone else just left us alone...well to our faces anyway. We rolled our eyes constantly and the gossip. Usually it was something along the lines of "when did that happen? Is she with both of them?" and more questions of the vulgar variety.

Umbridge started her rule of "boys must stay at least 8 inches away from girls at all time" thing and I was pretty sure that was why. Us being who we are, of course we ignored it. Malfoy turned us in and we found ourselves in Umbitche's (a nickname everyone was fond of) office with her evil quills in hand.

When Umbitch had decided that _I must stay away from boys_ had been sufficiently been carved into my skin and _I must stay away from girls_ was sufficiently carved into Gred's and Forge's skin, we were released. This wasn't our first visit. We also had " _I must not have Peeves throw dung bombs at teachers" "I must not turn corridors into swamps"_ etched onto our hands. According to her, we were one step away from expulsion.

For the first time in 15 years, Potter actually had a good idea and started up a club for us to actually learn defense spells instead of reading them out of books like Umbitch had us all doing. Longbottom had found the Room of Requirement and that became Dumbledore's Army headquarters. Every other day, Potter taught us all defensive spells which we used in duels and that sort of thing. It was actually quite fun. At the end of the last lesson before the holidays we wanted to tell Potter about the ideas we had come up with that were actually quite good ones to get back at Umbridge but were completely blown off by Potter because of his little crush on Cho Chang.

We had decided to stay at school for Christmas, mainly because Molly and Arthur had gone to Romania to see Charlie. It was kind of relieving though, since we would've had to tell them about us. I'm sure I would be moved out of our room and have to share with Ginny and I wasn't to enthusiastic about it. Of course, Potter stayed as well and so did Granger. He had struck up an odd sort of friendship with her. We all figured that Ron would warm up to her again, but with his hard head it'd take awhile.

"I don't know about you, but I'm sick of Umbitch. She's ruining the whole school," I said as I plopped down on the couch in the common room. "We've got to do something about her."

"Well, we didn't want to tell you, but we have kind of decided that Fred's and my lives are above academia, so we're leaving. With a bang of course."

"You're leaving!?"

"We don't have that much longer left this year, and this could be the only chance anyone has at getting back at Umbitch."

"Then I'm going with you."

"No, you're not. One of us should graduate, after all you are 1/3 owner of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes."

"When are you leaving?"

"While you're sitting down for your O. . We've still got a bunch of planning to do, and no, you're not helping. You'll get yourself in trouble and get expelled," Fred said, apparently reading my mind. I shook my head and stood.

"Anna, you're not mad are you?" George asked, almost pleading.

"I...I don't know how I feel about this. I'm going...I don't know. Somewhere and you're not invited." I walked up to the dorms and grabbed a sweatshirt and the map. The twins tried to stop me from leaving, but I wasn't having any of it.

"Please don't be mad, Anna," Fred said, trying to hug me. I pushed his arms away and walked past him and George. I left the common room, took the shortcut through Honey dukes, and to the Three Broomsticks. I was in desperate need of something stronger than butter beer. Courtesy of both looking older and having connections, I had a glass of Fire Whiskey, free of charge, in front of me. I didn't leave until nearly nightfall, and by that time walking was a bit of a challenge. I stumbled my way down the street and managed to sneak back to school undetected. When I got there, the twins were waiting for me.

"What do you want?" I slurred as George helped keep me upright.

"We've been worried sick about you! We looked everywhere for you!" Fred told me.

"Three guesses where I was," I said as I almost fell over.

"Let's just get you back to the common room."

The trek back to Gryffindor Tower seemed even longer than usual but once we were there, I was put on the couch.

"What happened to her?" My twin said from her spot in one of the arm chairs.

"Since...since when do you care?" I slurred at her. "Why haven't you been in class, Granger? Did your intelli...intell...smartness get lost while you were in jail? Did you get put down a year?"

"Yeah...they put me in second year to catch up," she said, sniffling. "I'm so stupid!" she said, the tears finally coming. She ran up to her dorm.

"You know, that was really uncalled for," George said as he sat next to me.

"I...I don't care," I said. "I'm gonna puke!" George managed to conjure up a trash bin before the contents of my stomach reappeared. Fred was nice enough to hold my hair back for me. Once I was done, George did a quick cleaning spell then the two of them helped me upstairs.

"Come on, into the shower with you," Fred said as they helped me into the bathroom. "Are you going to be okay by yourself, or do you need help?"

"I'll be fine," I said. They nodded and let go of me. I immediately fell to the ground. "Oopsie!" I said, starting to laugh.

"Apparently not," George said as he picked me up.

"No, I'm fine...just let me lean against a wall, and I'll be fine," I said, right before I puked in the sink.

"Why can't you have any girl friends to help you out?" Fred asked as he held my hair back again.

"Go...go get Granger then," I mumbled. It's not like she doesn't know what I look like," I said before I started laughing again. "She is my twin, after all."

"I'll go," George said and headed down to the common room.

"Are you sure you want to get Granger?" Fred asked. "I mean, I can help. I promise not to get more handsy on you than necessary."

"You...you just want to see me naked!" He rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, my dear, but in the state you're in right now, those types of thoughts are the farthest things from my mind."

"So, I'm ugly?"

"Don't be stupid," he said, then it was Granger to the rescue.

"Ginny got her for me."

"Granger...thanks," I said as she led me to the showers. After a few minutes, I was squeaky clean, dressed in fresh pajamas, and laying down on George's bed.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. It was really stupid of me to say," I told her before she left the room. She nodded.

"It's okay. You were drunk, besides, after everything I've done to you, I don't expect you to be nice to me."

"I should be nicer to you," I said. "I mean, you already dealt with your punishment or whatever. You've apologized and everything." She nodded. "So, knocked back to second year, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"You're smart enough to jump ahead now. Go through your books and practice like you used to, you'll be back to 5th year in no time."

"Thanks, but I doubt it."

"Where's that know-it-all that annoyed everyone because she's so much smarter than everyone?"

She smiled and chuckled a bit. "I'll give it a shot."

I nodded and she headed back out.

"That was unexpected," George said as he sat next to me.

"Well, you guys are leaving me, I have to have someone to talk to."

"There's always Ginny."

"I love her to death, but her other friends annoy the hell out of me."

"Us too. You've got Harry and Ron."

"Equally annoying. The Boy-Who-Lived has turned into some high and mighty whatever you want to say since he saw Moldywart come back. I'm kinda sick of hearing about it. Ron keeps sucking up to him, riding his coattails and what not. Really, Really annoying."

"So, what are you going to do after we leave?" Fred asked as he sat on the other side of me.

"I don't know. Probably be miserable."

"Don't be like that, you'll have fun. You can be our replacement, you know, keep selling WWW products while we're starting up the store!"

"Let's just stop talking about it, okay? It's depressing."

"Whatever you say," George said as he kissed my forehead. I kissed each of them, then made them cuddle up with me. They gladly wrapped me in their arms and I immediately fell asleep.

The next morning, the twins were absent, but there was a hangover potion waiting for me on the bedside table as well as a note.

 _Went down for breakfast, just stay in bed. We'll bring something up for you._

 _Fred and George_

I smiled and snuggled up more into the bed, pulling the blankets tighter around me. I must have fallen asleep again since Fred woke me up with a kiss to the forehead and a quiet "Wakie wakie eggs and bakie!"

I opened my eyes to the smell of eggs and bacon. I sat up and took the silverware and plate from George.

"Thank you," I said before I dug in. When I was done I threw on some jeans and one of my Weasley Christmas sweaters and headed down to the common room. Granger was sitting in one of the arm chairs, her head buried in a book. I smiled, glad to see her starting to get back to her old self. Fred and George were already down and facing away from the stair case, so of course I had to jump on one of their backs.

"What the...Well hello to you too," Fred said after I jumped onto his back. He grabbed my legs and lifted me up a bit so I wouldn't fall. I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder.

"So, what are we up to today?"

"Hogsmeade weekend so Christmas shopping of course."

"Okay. Granger! Are you going?"  
"Huh?"

"Are you going to Hogsmeade?"

"I wasn't planning on it, why?"

"Well, I can't very well go Christmas shopping with the twins, now can I?"

"You...you want me to go with you?"

"Yeah, so go get dressed." She nodded and smiled widely at me before running up the stairs. A few minutes later, she bounced back down to the common room. After a quick goodbye to the twins, Granger and I headed out.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Well, that Went Better than Expected**

 **A/N: So, it looks like pretty much no one is reading this story at all anymore. No reviews, barely any hits...so I'm wondering if I should even bother continuing it. Let me know, if I don't get at least 3 reviews, I'll write a quick, unsatisfying ending and that will be it...something along the lines of two years later there was a war and everyone died. So, if you don't want anyone to die, let me know, alright?**

 **Don't own anything other than Anna.**

Christmas shopping with my sister actually turned out to be pretty fun. Since..it...happened, she'd changed completely and now that she was starting to break out of her shell again she was pretty cool.

"Where do you need to go?" Hermione asked me. "I really don't have anyone to buy for, so we can do whatever you want to do."

"Really? No friends? Well, that's just ridiculous. I thought you and Harry were friends again. What about Ron? Hasn't he started talking to you yet?"

"Well...Harry and I aren't close anymore and Ron barely acknowledges my presence. Would it be appropriate to get them gifts anyway?"

"Wouldn't hurt anything but your bank account," I said chuckling. "Both of them are easy to shop for. Pretty much anything from Zonko's, quiddich related, or food will make them happy."

"I guess I'll get something for them. Could help me be friends with them, after all. It does get quite lonely without having friends.. I had half of mum and dad's money transferred into wizarding money so I'll be fine."

"The twins and I were planning on meeting at the Three Broomsticks around 3for lunch. You can come along if you'd like. I know it's a bit late for lunch, but we want to get all of our shopping done first."

"You don't need to invite me, that's okay."

"Granger, you're coming with me and that's final."

"Oh...okay."

"So, what's going on with you being put back into second year? That seems a bit much to me."

"It was Snape's idea. I messed up a potion in class pretty horribly, he called me a few names, then sent me to see Dumbledore."

"Of course it was Snape's idea. Stupid git. What did Dumbledore say?"

"That maybe being gone had more of an effect on me than he thought it would. He seemed to think that I'd easily catch up since I was such a bookworm. Apparently, that wasn't the case. He put me in second year but said if I could catch up to your class by the end of the year, he'd put me back into my proper class."

"You'll be caught up beforehand help you out. I'm smarter than people give me credit for. I'm actually 1st in the class...okay...so I've been doing 6th year stuff. I'm ahead a year, but I still take 5th year classes. I just do the 6th year homework and that kind of stuff instead of 5th year. I took my O. last year during exams instead of the normal ones. Yes, I'm secretly a nerd."

"Do the twins know?"

"Nope. They think I'm of average intelligence. I don't dumb myself down either, it's just I don't show my nerdy side too often. They're practically geniuses themselves, but you couldn't tell that from their grades."

"Oh. Well, how did you manage to skip ahead?"

"Mcgonagal, actually. Apparently I had been brought up in a teachers' meeting and it was decided I was going to be jumped up a grade. Snape disagreed of course, but that wasn't surprising in the least."

"If you're doing 6th year stuff, why are you still in 5th year classes? I mean, how do you learn all the 6th year stuff?"

"Reading the 6th year level books and whatnot. I do 6th year homework, and every now and then they pull me from a free period to have me show them if I've learned the spells correctly or so I can ask for help on anything. I know its sounds stupid, cliche, and just plan old stupid, but there it is. Sounds too good to be true, eh?"

"Freakishly. You know, if this was a fan-fiction, you'd be called a Mary-Sue, right?"

"A what?"

"Nothing just muggle nonsense."

"What the hell is a Mary-Sue?"

"A character who has just outrageous abilities, like you being super smart, you know? I mean, how is there any chance that would actually happen? I was super smart and they never skipped me up a year."

"Ah, well, if this was a fan-fiction, as you called it, the author would probably say something along the lines of tough shit, this is helps with the plot a bit and I don't care if you don't like her character right now and I promise it'll make sense eventually."

"It is a bit odd that you found out the twins were leaving early and now you're super smart and will graduate early."

"How'd you know about the twins?"

"You should be more careful who's around when you're talking about that sort of thing. Especially when Extendable Ears are being sold and you have a curious sister."

"It's also a bit odd that you, almighty bookworm, suddenly got pushed back a few years."

"Well, if you think about it, I was gone for a few years and wasn't being taught anything other than muggle things, it kind of makes sense that I wouldn't be caught up with you fifth years."

"True, true. I think that would clear up any questions any readers would have about a fan-fiction based on us, right?"

"I think so."

"Great, now that that's all settled for some hypothetical story, we can actually get our shopping done, correct?"

"On we go!" She said. We headed towards Zonko's first, then the broom shop, then the bookstore, which we stayed at for way too long, and the apothecary. By the time we were done shopping, our arms were full of bags and it was time to meet the boys for lunch.

"It's about time you got here!" They said at the same time as we headed to a table towards the back of the room.

"About time? We're only four minutes late!" I replied, rolling my eyes as I shrunk my bags down and stuck them in my pocket.

"Besides, you're late for just about everything," I added. Hermione sat down quietly in the seat next to mine, keeping her mouth shut and not making eye contact with anything.

"Granger, we don't bite, you know. No need to be a meek little mouse," George told her.

"Don't bite? Ha! Tell that to my damn neck! Dear lord, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were vampires! Be glad I know a few glamor spells," I said, sitting down. The twins grinned, looking pretty pleased with themselves while Granger blushed and averted her eyes again. I chuckled as I shed my coat and took my scarf off.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, what will it be?" Our waiter asked.

"Just butter beer," I said, smiling up at him. He smiled back, earning a bit of a glare from the twins. "What?"

"Lunch is more than butter beer, you know." Fred said, still glaring at me.

"I'd like a lunch that does not contain roaches, thank you very much."

"She does have a good point, Freddie," George said, winking at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Suck up," Fred replied, rolling his eyes.

"Oh you're just jealous!"

"She likes me better!"

"Not a chance! You know I'm the better looking twin!"

"Ugh, knock it off or I'll break up with the both of you," I said, rolling my eyes for the millionth time.

"You wouldn't," they said at the same time.

"If I have to listen to that anymore, yeah I will. See, this is what I was worried about! The constant competition between the two of you is ridiculous."

"We're sorry," they said together again.

"You better be," I said as I sipped on my butter beer. Granger was sitting quietly, obviously feeling out of place.

"Sorry about that, Granger." George said.

"You guys fight an awful lot," she pointed out.

"Never anything serious. They know I'd never get rid of them anyway."

"So, I have and idea for a new product. Dung bombs that has a longer stentch to them. It'd be great to prank Filch with, not to mention Malfoy and his cronies."

"All that's doing is working on a Zonko's product," Granger mentioned. "All of your other products have always been original."

"Damn, good point, Granger."

"I mean, that idea sounds awesome, but maybe if you tweaked some other things about it and made it a more original product you could make Zonko's dung bombs look like copies of yours!"

"Granger, you are brilliant," George said.

"Done shopping?" I asked them. We chugged down what was left of our drinks, paid, and headed out.

"So, what's going on with you and Potter?" Fred asked Granger. "He's been making googly eyes at you for awhile now."

"What? That's ridiculous," Granger asked with a blush that could rival the patented Weasley Blush.

"I'm serious!"

"Well, he hasn't been acting interested. He's barely acting like we're friends!"

"I'm sure that'll change," I said, winking at her. "once I give him a little push in the right direction. That present you got him will definitely help. I suppose I should ask if you have a crush on him before I do, though. Well, do you?"

She nodded, but looked at the floor.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, Operation Granger is now started," George said.

"Or should it be Operation Potter?" Fred asked.

"Maybe Operation Grarry?" I asked.

"That just sounds weird," Granger said. "Let's just go with Operation Granger."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Operation Granger: Phase One**

 **A/n: So...two out of three isn't bad. Thanks to those who reviewed!**

 **Oh, still don't own anything but Anna.**

 **Short chapter, but it's still a chapter.**

Operation Granger started out simply enough. I joined Harry, Granger, and Ron in front of the fire in the common room and started gushing over how much fun I had spending time with my sister.

"Underneath all that hair is someone absolutely hilarious! Sense of humor a mile wide! I saw Lee snogging some girl in the back of Zonko's and with a wave of her wand, Granger had him dancing! Needless to say, the girl was none too impressed with him after than and ran off!"

"I didn't know you had it in you, Granger!" Ron said, clapping her on the back. She grinned, blushed, and glanced at Harry who had a shit eating grin on his face. He noticed and blushed. I grinned at the twins who were sitting across the room from us, but still watching what was going on.

"There's more to her than meets the eye, you know. Just think how much easier your misadventures would be with that set of brains? If the two of you rule breakers can manage to corrupt her, you wouldn't need the map to sneak around school undetected! She's a heck of a looker, too!"

"Yeah, Granger, you are pretty," Harry said quietly, eyes wide and blushing as if he couldn't believe that had just come out of his mouth.

"Thanks," she said just as quietly.

"Forget the looks," Ron said. "Anna's right! Granger here is just what we need! I don't know about you but I'm sick of getting detentions with Umbridge just because we needed a late night snack."

"She's brutal, let me tell you. These scars aren't here voluntarily," I said as I showed everyone the back of my hands. "Oh, hey! I know! Harry, could teach you how to fly, Granger! I know how you like to master everything and who better to teach you than the youngest seeker in a century, not to mention, The-Boy-Who-Lived."

"F...fly? You know I'm afraid of heights!"

"There's no better way to get rid of fear than facing it head on. If I can face ol' moldywart, you can learn to fly," Harry told her.

"Oh...um...okay," Granger said before Harry winked at her before leaning in closer to whisper.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall," he told her. I was so proud. Little Harry had finally grown up.

"Well, I'll leave the three of you alone, I've got two boys of my own needing some attention." I stood and chuckled at the blushing faces of Hermione and Harry and the disgusted look on Ron's face.

"Nasty! I don't want to know what you do with my brothers!"

` "Are you sure, because last night we did some pretty fun stuff. Fred was kissing my neck and George was.."

"Okay, okay, stop, stop, stop!" Ron said, successfully interrupting me and covering his ears. Help but laugh as I walked over to the twins who grabbed my hands and led me up to the dorms.

"Ew, Lee! Do that somewhere else!" I said one I heard the squeaking and moans coming from his bed. At least he had the decency to close the curtains.

"You could at least have used a silencing charm!" George shouted.

"Shut it, all of you!" Lee yelled at us.

"Well, that's no way to talk to a lady," I said as I pulled back the curtains of his bed.

"Pansy Parkinson, huh? Desperate enough to go slumming, eh Lee? From what I hear this girl's got more miles than that Ford Angelina running around in the forest!"

"Excuse me? Slumming!?" Pansy yelled as she pushed Lee off of her. He fell on the floor with a big oomph. "He's lucky I even lay eyes on him!"

"Put some clothes on before you yell okay, Lee may be into pug faced girls but we're not," George said as he and Fred covered their eyes. I chuckled.

"What's a Ford Angelina?" She asked as she slipped her shirt over her head.

"A muggle thing, so I won't bother to explain. What I meant, and what I should have said since you're so blatantly stupid is that you are a slut. Hogwarts' own little whore."

"You take that back!"

"I'd rather not, if it's all the same. We all know it's true. You've tried to get with Fred and George how many times?"

"If anyone went slumming it was _them_. Who would want some obnoxious _prude_ for a girlfriend?"

"I'm not a _prude_ , Lee just pushed me farther than I was ready to go. Damn near raped me once," I said as I glared at the boy who was slipping on a pair of pants.

"He did what?"

"Yeah, we had sneaked a little fire whiskey, don't look at me like that, we knicked it from your supply in the kitchens, he decided that after a few drinks I had just been teasing him the whole relationship and that I really wanted to shag him. Pushed me down on the couch in the common room and started tearing my clothes off! Who the hell knew what could have happened if he hadn't passed out or the twins didn't show up?"

"That's disgusting, Lee," Pansy said. "I don't even _like_ Hughes but I'm taking her side on this. You are disgusting and don't even think about propositioning me again!"

"Pansy, she's lying! Come on, get back here!" he said as she left the room after getting dressed.

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other with a smug grin on my face.

"You bitch!" he said, glaring at me. "You're just pissed off that I've moved on!"

"Why on earth would I be pissed about that? I couldn't care less who you were fucking, I just felt like messing with you."

"You swore you would never tell anyone about that!"

"Oh, sorry, it just _slipped_."

"To Pansy Parkinson who will tell the whole school!"

"Doubtful. If she did she'd have to admit to having sex with someone outside of Slytherin and that she had a civil conversation with a Gryffindor. Although, she might figure out a way to let everyone know without letting people find out what she did. There's always the chance that no one would believe her, too. On the other hand, she may let people know, you'll be shunned by every female in this place and could end up expelled."

Lee rushed out of the room, hoping to find the Slytherin before she severely damaged his reputation.

"Did that really happen? Did he really?" Fred asked as he said on our bed. I nodded.

"Why on Earth didn't you tell us?" George asked, getting a little red in the face, and not in embarrassment either. George was getting mad, a thing I had seen only a handful of times.

"Because I didn't want you to get all pissed off about it. Besides that was ages ago and no one got hurt. It doesn't matter."

"It matters to us. If it wasn't a big deal, why did you tell the pug face?"

"I always worry he'll do something bad to one of the girls he's with. I mean, I know he won't, but I still worry. It honestly just slipped from my mouth when I saw her."

"Why didn't you go to McGonagal or Dumbledore?"

"Because, like I said, it wasn't that big of a deal and no one got hurt. It was a he said she said situation and I didn't AND DON'T want to talk about it anymore."

"Fine," George said before grabbing me by the waist and throwing me on the bed. I giggled as he tickled me, successfully lightening the mood.

"Okay, okay! Mercy, Mercy!" I said, squealing as I tried to wiggle my way out of his grasp."

"Ah, so the great and powerful Annabelle Hughes has admitted defeat!"

"Only for now. I'll get my revenge and you know it."

I giggled again as they began to have "Roman hands and Russian fingers" as my mother used t say. Fred attacked my neck. Curtains were closed as clothes came off. I muttered a silencing charm before George headed down south, if you know what mean.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 17: The Secret is Out**

 **A/N: HUGE thanks to Tanzar81 for all of her reviews and support! I hope you like this chapter!**

 **As usual, I don't own anything other than Anna!**

Exams were coming up sooner than anyone wanted them to, which meant lots of studying; at least for me and Granger. I had kept my word about helping her catch up, and catch up she did. She would have no problem getting bumped up to the right year. We spent the majority of the time outside of classes in the library. I was bored out of my mind, but Granger seemed to enjoy it. The twins were so engrossed with what they called the 'Ultimate Prank' that they barely noticed I wasn't around. Occasionally we talked Potter and Ron into tagging along which helped Operation Granger move along quicker than expected. I couldn't understand why he would want to be with her after how she had acted, she was almost the spitting image of the Dursleys. I supposed he agreed with Dumbledore's obsession with second chances, or he just thought she was hot. Maybe both.

I was exhausted. All the time. Taking double the classes I was supposed to be taking, studying, Dumbledore's Army, and trying to keep my secret safe was just...exhausting. There were times I could barely keep my eyes open, let alone pay attention in class, so it came to no surprise that I was getting kind of sloppy with my sneaking around. I was sitting in the library, as usual, with Granger during a free period studying for herbology exams when she brought it up.

"So, I saw another _you_ jogging up to the Divination classroom. Care to explain?"

"Shit," I mumbled under my breath. "You must have mistaken me with someone else."

"No, I very clearly saw _you_ jogging up to a class that was at the same time as Ancient Runes which I KNOW you were at. How are you attending two classes at once?"

"We can't talk about this here," I said as I started packing up my things. She followed suit and walked out of the library before me. Once I caught up, I pulled her into an empty classroom to explain everything.

"I already told you I'm a year ahead, right?" she nodded. "Well, this is how." I took the tiny hour glass out of my shirt and showed it to her.

"A time turner?"

"Yeah. I've been taking 5th and 6th year classes. 5Th year for appearances and 6th year classes because well, you know why."

"Wouldn't they notice you in the 6th year classes?"

"A quick Notice-Me-Not spell and no one even knows I'm there. They professors know, of course."

"That's brilliant!"

"More of a pain in the arse, really. All this studying, the DA, and my normal stuff is getting really exhausting, I got sloppy, that's why you caught me."

"I won't tell anyone," she said quietly. "You know, we could use it to be able to get more studying in!"

"I've got enough stuff going on, I don't need to spend anymore time with my head stuck in a book than I already do, so no. It's not getting used for anything other than what I'm supposed to use it for. Let's get back to the Tower, I could use a nap Seriously...please don't tell anyone. I could end up in a world of trouble if people find out."

"Don't worry, I won't." Since class was currently in session, we were able to go back to our common room without much sneaking around.

"Quiddich," I said to the Fat Lady who swung open to let us in. I waved at the twins who had their heads together, obviously planning something. They smiled at me, expecting me to join them on the couch, but I followed Granger to her dorm instead. I hadn't been lying about needing a nap.

"She's spending a lot of time with Granger, Fred." I told my brother. "I'm not sure if I like it."

"Why wouldn't you like it? She's going to need someone to talk to and what not after we leave."

"She's hardly spending any time with us!"

"Well, to be fair, it's not like we've been paying much attention to her, either," Fred pointed out.

"I know, I know. Believe me, I feel really bad about it, but this is really important!"

"I feel horrible about it as well, yes, what we're doing is important, but whatever she's doing must be important as well. Besides, it's not like we're letting her help us. We'd already have it figured out if she could help. Why aren't we letting her help again ?"

"Because she'll figure out a way to help do the prank and either follow us or find a way to get expelled. She needs to graduate, you know," Fred told me, once again, and as usual, the voice of reason.

"She's going to hate us for leaving like this, you know that right?"

"Let's just hope she gets over it. I don't want to lose her and I doubt you do either."

"Of course I don't!"

My nap didn't happen. I couldn't sleep without the twins which made me ponder over what was going to happen when they left. I was so pissed off that they were going to pull off some amazing prank and leaving me out of it. Okay, so it was more that they were leaving without me, not so much that they weren't even letting me help at all. The only time the three of us really even spent time together was when we were A)going to sleep or B) waking up. At night there wasn't anything other than a bit of conversation, yawning, then going to sleep. We were all so exhausted all the time, there wasn't much energy to do much else.

While everything was going on, I noticed Lee getting creepier and creepier. Whenever he talked to me, he tried to pull me away from whoever I was with so he could talk to me 'in private.' I had never been uncomfortable around Lee, but he was starting to scare me. I knew he wouldn't do anything with the twins around, but what would he do when they left?

"Come on, Anna. Let's go out by the lake or something," Lee whispered as he stepped way too close to me. He was in my bubble and I wasn't too happy about it. I looked at Granger, Potter, and Ron and silently begged them to save me.

"She can't. We're going to the library," Granger said. "Exams are coming up, you know."

"The four of you are ALWAYS studying. You used to be FUN Hughes, what happened?"

"I'm still FUN Lee, I just don't want anything to do with you. Just leave me the hell alone, okay?"

"You don't seem FUN to me, Hughes."

"I don't really care what you think of me, Jordan. Leave me the hell alone," I said as I brushed past him, leading my saviors out of the portrait hole and down to the library.

"You okay?" Ron asked me. "You look a little shook up."

"I'm fine, Ron. He's just been creeping me out after the whole Pansy thing. Turns out she told everyone about the shit he pulled on me."

"Have you told Fred and George?"  
"No, he's nothing I can't handle. Besides, they've been too busy to really do anything anyway. It's like I don't even exist anymore!"

"Anna, I think you're taking this Lee situation too lightly," Granger told me. "You need to tell someone about it, at least Fred and George."

"I can handle him, Granger," I said, getting frustrated. "I'll just keep my guard up around him. Besides, I'm faster AND smarter than him."

"That might not be enough, you know. What if he catches you without a wand?" Potter asked.

"Look, can we just not talk about this anymore?" Now I was shaken up. I knew they were right. He was stronger than me and he was pretty pissed off at me. No female would have anything to do with him anymore and he had been pulled aside by Dumbledore because of what Parkinson had said. I rushed over when I saw and smoothed everything over, saying that Parkinson was just starting rumors again and that she's been doing that to Gryffindor for a long time. She had just taken it too far. Lee looked somewhat thankful when I pulled him out of that mess, but no one would have anything to do with him, not even Millicent Bullstrode. If he was out for revenge, I was royally fucked. Maybe it was time to tell the twins after all.

"Wait up," I heard the twins yell as they walked out of the portrait hole not long after us. We stopped and let them catch up.

"So what the hell is going on with you and Lee?" Fred asked, sounding more than a little suspicious.

"Nothing is going on with Lee. He's just being his annoying self," I said, not really wanting to talk about the drama again, plus I didn't know how they would react. "What are you insinuating anyway?"

"Well, he's been getting awfully chummy with you lately. Invading your personal bubble and all. We know you hate that," George pointed out.

"Are you insinuating what I think you are?"

"You've been acting pretty weird lately..." Fred told me

"And you haven't been spending any time with us..."

"The two of you are ridiculous. If you'd actually been paying attention, you'd notice that I try to avoid Lee as much as possible and I am NEVER alone with him, so get that damn idea out of your heads. It's not like you put any effort into spending time with me either. I don't accuse you cheating on me! Why? Because I know better and I TRUST YOU! Why can't you trust me? Have I EVER done anything to betray you in the least?" My day had just gone from bad to worse. I was exhausted, Lee was creeping me out, Potter had put some nasty thoughts in my head about it, and now the twins thought I was cheating on them.

"I thought you knew me better than that!" I stomped away from the group and headed down to the kitchens to knick some fire whiskey from Malfoy's elf who delivered it once a week.

"Thanks, buddy," I said. I could never remember the poor elf's name. I wandered back out of the kitchens and headed back to the tower before I changed my mind. I shook my head before I changed my course to the Room of Requirement. I heard footsteps behind me and was quite shocked when it was Pansy who caught up with me.

"What do you want, Parkinson? If you want me to give you this bottle back, your shit out of luck."

"No, Hughes, I don't want the bottle back."

"Then what do you want?"  
"I just wanted to check up on you, actually. You've been looking like absolute shit lately."

"Why the hell would you give a shit about me?" I asked her. "You're a god damn Slytherin!"

"I see the way Lee's been leering at you. I may not like you, but that doesn't mean I want you to get...you know."

"I'm fine, Parkinson. I'm a big girl, I can handle Lee. No he hasn't done anything but be really creepy. I'm just so fucking _tired_."

"If I spent that much time with Potter, Weasley, and Granger, I'd have avada'd myself by now."

"Most people would," I said as I took a big gulp out of the bottle, not bothering to wait until we got to the room. "Care to join me for a drink, Parkinson?"

"Sure, why not. Where you headed to?"

"Room of Requirement, of course. I'm sure as hell not going back to the Tower."

A half hour later, we were completely smashed and the bottle was empty.

"You know, the twins think I'm cheating on them with Lee."

"What? I barely know you and even I know you're crazy about them!" It was a wonder we could understand each other with as much as we were slurring our words.

"They think I'm messing around with Lee," I explained. "They probably think I'm with him right now since they don't know where I am."

"That's just crazy. I always knew those Weasleys were stupid."

"Hey...be nice...I love those Weasleys and I" m practically a Weasley myself!"

"I'm a Slytherin, I'm not supposed to be nice."

"You're not supposed to be nice to Gryffindors either, you know. Especially Mudbloods," I pointed out as I fell off the couch that had appeared when we walked in. I promptly passed out to the sound of Pansy whispering "Shit!"

When I came to, I was in the Slytherin common room. I blinked and took in my surroundings and discovered lots of black, leather furniture and an over abundance of green and silver shit. When I turned my head I was shocked to see Malfoy and Pansy looking at me, both looking pretty concerned.

"What the fuck," I said quietly.

"You passed out! I didn't know where to take you! I couldn't very well take you to the hospital wing and I didn't know the way to your common room!"

"Oh.." I said, wincing as I reopened my eyes. "Got any hangover potions or whatever?" Malfoy nodded and handed me a couple vials of potion. "I can't believe I'm going to do this," I mumbled before I choked them down. I stood up slowly, but was still pretty dizzy despite the potion.

"You had a lot of fire whiskey," Malfoy said.

"Well, no shit," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Shut up, Mudblood, I'm attempting to be civil," the blonde said, I rolled my eyes again, quite used to being called a Mudblood by then.

"Whatever, now what are you on about?"

"The fire whiskey from the Manor is well aged and stronger than what you normally have. You had a lot of it, so the potions will take longer to kick in, won't last long, and might not even work at all."

"That's bullshit," I said as the room started spinning and I was forced to sit down again. "I've stolen your fire whiskey before and I've never had that problem."

"I doubt you're drinking it all by yourself, I'm sure your boyfriends and whoever else share. You're not used to such a high concentration of it."

"He's not lying, Hughes," Pansy said. "Your best bet is to just ride the hangover out here, you won't make it all the way up to Gryffindor tower by yourself and we're not taking you there."

"Fine, fine," I said, laying down on the couch.

"Where the hell is she!" I yelled at Fred.

"How the hell should I know! Do I look like a bloody psychic!"

"She's probably out with Lee," I said as we headed back up to our common room. "She probably is cheating on us, you know that right?"

"She's always with Granger, though. She can't be cheating on us!"

"Just because she leaves with Granger doesn't mean she stays with Granger."

"George, why are you pushing this issue so much?"

"Because it makes sense, she's never around, Lee is way too chummy with her. Put two and two together, Freddie."

"Fine, break up with her then. I'm not leaving her just because you're being unreasonable."

I didn't speak until we were in our common room and saw Lee in Anna's favorite chair.

"Where's Anna?" I asked him.

"How would I know?"

"Don't play dumb, Lee. Where is she?"

"I honestly don't know what the hell you're talking about. I haven't seen her since she blew me off earlier!"

"Why don't I believe you, Lee?"

"Because you're bat shit crazy, George." He stood and walked away. I got pissed and followed him.

"Where did you leave her, Lee? Tell me!"

"I didn't leave her anywhere!" he said, holding his hands up in surrender. I glared at him, then turned on my heel.

"Granger, Ron, and Potter haven't seen her anywhere," Fred said from his spot with the three of them. "They've been looking, too, apparently. Maybe she went to The Three Broomsticks like she did that one night."

"Go check," I told my twin. "I'll stay here."

An hour later, there was still no sign of Anna. Fred had yet to return from The Three Broomsticks, but I assumed she wasn't there. Whenever she showed up again, she was going to get an earful and she had better hope she had a decent alibi.

"Not there." I heard my twin say a half hour later.

"Where the fuck is she!?"

"Ugh, I'm never drinking again," I said as I covered my eyes with my arm. Even the dim lighting in the dungeon was hurting my head. "I want to go back to my dorm and sleep in my own bed. No offense, but this couch is lumpy. You'd think with all your rich pure bloods you'd be able to get a decent couch," I mumbled.

"I'm going to ignore that insult," Pansy said. "Think you can walk?"

"I think so," I said before swinging my legs off of the couch. I stood slowly and gripped the sides of my head, standing didn't appear to be agreeing with my migraine.

"I'm good," I said, trying not to puke.

"No you're not, Hughes. You look like you're about to puke."

"If I'm gone much longer, I'll probably end up single. The twins already think I'm cheating on them. Fucking A, they find out I've been here and they'll assume I'm fucking Malfoy!"

"Honestly, the idiots think you're cheating on them?" Malfoy asked, seemingly shocked.

"I feel like I've had this conversation before."

"You did. You told me all about it and that was the reason you decided drinking was a good idea," Pansy said.

"Whatever. I'm getting the fuck out of here," I said quietly and made my way out. I was almost out of the dungeons when I found myself facing Fred and George.

"Have you been drinking? You smell like fire whiskey," George said.

"Yeah, I was drinking."

"What the hell were you in the dungeons?"

"Spying on me, eh?"

"Just answer the question."

"Well, after your accusations about me, I decided that a nice bottle of fire whiskey sounded delightful."

"Partying it up with the Slytherins, which one of them did you fuck? Malfoy?"

"What the hell are you talking about, George? You're fucking crazy! I started drinking with Pansy..." I tried to explain, but George cut me off.

"I don't want your excuses, your lies, I don't even want to hear your voice. You betrayed us," he said calmly before walking away. Fred looked between George and I and headed off in George's direction instead of helping or listening to me. I started silently crying as I made my way slowly back up to Gryffindor Tower. I had to stop every few steps to attempt to curb the nausea from the migraine, especially as I waked into brighter areas of the castle. When I walked into the common room, I was met with a few unhappy faces along with one with a far to happy expression.

"Well, look who the cat dragged in. I'm glad I got to witness part of your walk of shame," Lee said. I immediately flew at him and threw a few punches, but he only laughed.

"You're ruining my life, Lee! Why don't you just tell them the truth!"

"Oh, Annabelle, ruining your relationship is only the beginning of what I have planned for you," he said before pushing me away from him, chuckling as he walked away. I stood looking at my friends waiting for someone to say something to me, even if it was something cruel. Unfortunately, I was only met with silence before everyone went their separate ways. I hung my head before going up to the dorm I would probably be moving out of to grab some clothes and have a quick shower. Once I was done scrubbing the smell of alcohol off of myself, I stepped out of the shower and could hear the twins and Lee talking in the common room. I hoped Lee was telling them the truth, but I was wrong.

"Yeah, I'll admit I've been cozying up to her. I miss our 'alone time' if you know what I mean."

"Have the two of you been messing around?" I heard George ask.

"Maybe."

"So have you?"

"I don't really feel the need to answer that."

I slammed the door open and glared at the three of them.

"Tell them the truth, Lee! Stop lying!"

"I haven't been lying at all, Anna. I haven't denied or confirmed anything."

"Fred, George, Lee and I haven't messed around since he and I broke up! He's getting all creepy on me because he's not getting any action! He's trying to ruin our lives!"

"Why should they believe you?" Lee asked me. "Your behavior has been pretty...snake like...lately. Been spending a lot of time with the Slytherins, eh?"

"My behavior hasn't been snake like in the least! All I've been doing is helping Granger while working on my own stuff, too! I haven't had _time_ to do anything with anybody! Granger, tell them! Just tell them the damn truth!" I yelled as I saw her walk down the stairs.

"Who knows what you could have been up to with that little trinket of yours? I'll admit that we do spend a lot of time together, but now that you have your little necklace who knows who you've been making time for?"

"Granger!"

"What necklace?" The twins asked at the same time.

"I'll tell you about it later, no one is supposed to know about it! Granger, you promised you wouldn't tell!"

"Oh well...it slipped," she said, glaring at me.

"Why are you all turning against me? Is this about Parkinson stopping me from dying of alcohol poisoning and giving me a place to sleep off the hangover?! I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Maybe you should go run back to your Slytherins since they seem to be so helpful. It's pretty obvious you're not wanted here." Hermione said, sneering at me in a very Malfoy-ish way. My eyes started to water and Lee began to chuckle quietly. The twins disappeared back up to the dorms, Granger, Potter, and Ron headed out to the library leaving just me and Lee in the common room.

"You know they're probably going to break up with you after all of this."

"I know, and I haven't even done anything wrong! They won't listen to reason!" He didn't want to listen either.

"Well, since you're going to end up single, there's no harm in giving me a little kiss."

"Lee get the hell away from me!" I yelled, pushing him away.

"You won't be saying that for much longer." He laughed and headed back up to the dorm, presumably to poison the twins' minds further. Less than ten minutes later, the twins bounded down the stairs, serious looks on their faces.

"Anna, we need to talk," they said simultaneously.

 **A/N: Please leave a review and let me know what you think!- Sally**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Facing my Executioners and a New Game Plan**

 **A/n: An apology to tanzar81 who is, in fact, a dude, not a girl. My bad. He's still pretty awesome though, a great help for this story!**

"We need to talk."

Immediately, my eyes went wide and I was starting to feel a bit nauseous. Anyone with half a brain knows what follows that sentence, and it's never ever EVER a good thing.

"Am I going to get brutally murdered? Nothing stops a Weasley man from getting to dinner as soon as possible," I said, trying to diffuse the tension. I received a dirty look from George and Fred was trying to fight back a grin.

"Stop joking around, Annabelle Lee," George said, still glaring at me. I gulped and followed them back to their dorm. As we headed up, Lee passed us, giving me a grin that chilled me to the bone, and not in a good way either. I glared at him, then looked at my boyfriends with a feeling of dread knowing this was probably going to be the last time I could call them that. I also had a feeling they were going to send me packing and I'd have to move back to the girls' dorm. That part wasn't so bad, except for the fact that I wouldn't be able to sleep.

Once we were in the room, they had me sit on our bed.

"Anna, we've taken some things into consideration," George said.

"And we've made a pretty significant decision," Fred finished for him.

"Oh Merlin, here it comes," I said quietly as I stared at the floor.

"Anna, don't be like that," Fred said quietly as he knelt in front of me. "You haven't even heard what we have to say." I nodded and looked at him.

"So, what have you decided?"

"Lee told us some pretty...interesting...things about you, but we'd like to hear your side of the story before we decide if we're taking the right decision. The fact that you've been hiding something significant from us all year isn't helping your case, though," George told me. I had a hard time not defending myself on that last part, but bit my tongue deciding silence was my best option at the moment.

"So, what exactly did he tell you?"

"According to him, you've been following him around like a lovesick puppy dog and that's why he keeps cozying up to you constantly. He seems to think you want him back and when your friends aren't around you practically throw yourself at him. Is this true?"

"Hell fucking no. I avoid Lee at all costs and if anyone is doing any stalking it's him. It's like he knows exactly where I'm going to be and just pops up out of nowhere. Just last night when I punched him he told me ruining our relationship was only the beginning of what he had planned for me. You should both know me better than that, anyway. You know I love you and I'd never betray you."

"He's not the only one claiming to have been messing around with you."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. A few Ravenclaws have been insinuating they have been for awhile now."

"The only Ravenclaw I know is Luna Lovegood, and believe me, there is no attraction there what so ever. Why are we even having this conversation, you know me better than all of this."

"You've been acting pretty fishy, lately. Can you really blame us for questioning your loyalty? You're a beautiful witch, Anna and could have any wizard of your choosing. With us being busy and not paying nearly enough attention to you, why wouldn't you seek attention elsewhere, especially with someone you're already familiar with?" George said..

"George, that was entirely rehearsed and not you at all. Did Lee write that for you, because you certainly would never say anything like that...ever." A light bulb had just turned on over my head (figuratively, not literally, of course) and I was hoping I was right. If that was the case I could most likely repair the damage that was obviously not true and boys just being idiots.

"Wait a minute, is this because you're leaving? Are you trying to end things so I don't follow you and get expelled?" Fred sort of smirked at me, which George smacked him upside the head for. I grinned, that was a gesture reserved for acting mistakes. I was relieved. He immediately changed the subject.

"What was Granger talking about?"

"This," I said as I revealed the golden hour glass. "It's a time turner."

"Why would you need it," Fred asked as he reached out to touch it.

"No touchie," I said, pulling it away from him. "I've been taking fifth year and sixth year classes. Fifth year only for appearances though. I took my O.W.L.s last year. I'm ahead a year and since I've been using this, technically I'm a year older."

"Why didn't you tell us you were ahead in classes?"

"Because I enjoy being considered of average intelligence."

"You should have told us, we would have told you."

"I know, I know. I should have told you, but in all honestly no one should know. If I wouldn't have slipped up the other day, no one would know. If word gets out to the wrong people, Dumbledore and I could get into some serious trouble."

"But Granger knows."

"She caught me going up to another class when she knew the class I was supposed to be at was already going on."

"How are we going to stop her from telling everyone?"

"Obliviate her?" I suggested. "I could always go to Dumbledore and explain that she found out. He'd probably oblivate her right away."

"What about us?"

"He probably already assumes that you would know since I've always told you everything. Do you have any other ideas what to do about it?"  
"Your plan sounds good," Fred told me. "I suggest doing it right away. Catch him after dinner."

"Alright, I'll do that. I'll have to tell him about Potter and Ron, too. Lee is too stupid to figure it out."

"As for our other decision..." George paused. "Anna, you've got to understand where we've been coming from with this issue..."

"Just get it over with George, I can't stand the suspense anymore. What have you decided?"

Conveniently before he could answer, the Weasleys and I were summoned to the Headmaster's office.

"This can't be good," Fred said as he grabbed my hand. I squeezed back and followed the Weasleys out of the portrait hole with the same worried face they all wore.

Once we arrived, we were told that Arthur had been injured and we would all be going to Grimauld Place for a few days. We had no objections to that and were desperate for more details but Dumbledore refused to give any.

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"All in good time, Miss Hughes. You'll find out soon enough," he said solemnly. I sighed in frustration and was the last to floo out to to our destination.

When I stepped of the floo I was nearly tackled by my favorite of the oldest brothers. I was wrapped in a tight hug, almost on the verge of not being able to breath.

"You get prettier every time I see you," he said as he looked at me.

"And you always have more scars that have some exaggerated stories behind them," I said, grinning up at him. He held on to me a bit longer than necessary, it took George clearing his throat to get us to separate.

"Sorry about that," he said as he backed away. "Since when do you care if we hug anyway?"

"Let's just say situations have changed," I said, glancing sadly at the twins.

"She finally gave in and started dating the two of you, eh?"

"Yeah," I said quietly.

"You don't sound so sure about that. Trouble in paradise?"

"You could say that," Fred said as he glared at Charlie who was still standing close enough to me that it bothered the twins, at least George, quite a bit.

"I see, well, if things don't work out with them, just look me up," Charlie said, winking at me as he walked away. I chuckled and watched him walk into the kitchen. We all followed, the twins making sure I was behind them and out of Charlie's reach. He chuckled again when he saw and shook his head. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Is anyone going to tell us what happened?" Ginny said from her spot in the back.

"Arthur was..." Molly said, trying to hold tears back. "Arthur was attacked by You-Know-Who's snake. He's lucky to be alive."

There were several gasps in the room and questions of where he was. We were told that he was upstairs in one of the rooms being cared for, but was currently napping after having some strong pain potions. Everyone was completely overwhelmed with the situation. It just made the return of Moldy Wart seem so much more real.

"Excuse me," I said as I walked out of the kitchen and to the library which was rarely used. I heard footsteps following me and I assumed it was either Fred or George. I sat down at one of the tables and just broke down. I thought of everything that had ever happened to me...abandoned by my biological parents, my adoptive parents being murdered, being abused by my sister and biological parents for no reason, the problems with the twins, and now this. I was shocked to find the arms that had suddenly appeared and wrapped themselves around them were not the arms of either of my boyfriends. Instead I was being held by Charlie. I couldn't help but feel safe, calmer, and content.

"What's going on other than what happened to Dad? I've never seen you break down like this," he said quietly as he ran a hand through my hair.

"The twins think I'm cheating on them and are probably going to break up with me," I replied.

"You're not, are you?"

"God no, I could never do that to them. One of my exes is being really creepy and won't leave me alone. They always show up at the worst possible moments, plus a few Ravenclaws have been claiming they've been messing around with me, too. The fact that they found me hungover walking out of the dungeons didn't help either. The twins and I haven't been spending much time together because we've been working on separate projects that are taking up a lot of our time."

"Well, there's part of your problem right there, spend time with them. They're just insecure. Do I even want to know what you were doing in the dungeon?"

"I know...but they know better than that...I'd never betray them like that! Oh, and I had been drinking pretty heavily. Pansy Parkinson saved me from alcohol poisoning and I ended up sleeping way too long on their couch."

"You know you deserve to be treated a hell of a lot better than how they're treating you right now. You're not a criminal, and you haven't done anything wrong. Come to think of it, do you really think you deserve to have to defend your every action?"

"They don't question my every action, come to think of it, George is the only one pushing the issue. Fred stays quiet about it for the most part."

"I'm sorry to point out, but often times the one doing the accusing is usually the one cheating. It sounds like he's making a big fuss out of you not doing anything wrong. Are you sure George isn't..."

I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "Of course he's not, I know him better than that. I don't know what his problem is." I laid my head on his shoulder, holding back some more tears. He kissed my forehead, and I must have fallen asleep shortly after since I was woken up by the twins and Charlie fighting.

"Get your hands off of her!" George yelled.

"I wouldn't have my hands on her if one or both of you idiots would have followed her! She was on the verge of a really bad breakdown and you didn't even notice! Pretty shitty of the both of you! Stop yelling, for fucks sake! You're going to wake her up!"

"We were comforting Mom and Ginny! They were just as upset as her! Instead of noticing _that_ you follow Anna trying to be a knight in shining armor! What are you trying to do, anyway? Steal her away from us?" Fred said, pretty upset about the last part, but kept himself from yelling.

"I'm not trying to do anything other than comfort a friend that needed somebody. Her boyfriends didn't want to be her comfort so yes, I let her cry on my shoulder because she needed to. I'm not trying to steal her. She told me everything, by the way. About you thinking she's cheating on you. How stupid can the two of you be? You've known her for YEARS! You should know better than that! Can't you see how much you're hurting her? Do you even give a damn? You better pull your heads out of your asses before she gets sick of your bullshitI swear to Merlin, if I find out you hurt anymore than you already have, I'll lock you in a cage with a Hungarian horn tail! "

The fact that their older brother had pointed out the obviousness of them being stupid made them stop and think. I finally let it be known that I was awake. I knew I should have squirmed my way out of his grasp, but I was far too comfortable.

"What's with the yelling?" I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"I was just explaining how idiotic my brothers are."

"How's that going for you?" I said, chuckling softly.

"Well, they've stopped shouting and look like they're actually thinking so I might have gotten through their thick skulls."

"Good." I yawned and laid my head back on his shoulder.

"They look like they're about to kill me," he said. "I'd best let you go." I nodded and slid off of his lap. He walked out of the room while glaring at his younger brothers.

"What's going on with you and Charlie?"George asked, none too nicely, as soon as the door had been shut.

"Nothing. It's just like he says. He came in here to comfort me. All that happened was I cried on his shoulder and ended up falling asleep. Nothing more than that. Didn't anything your brother just tell you sink into your brain?"

"Why don't I believe you?" George asked.

"I don't know, George, why don't you?" I snapped. He didn't say anything, only glared and walked out of the room.

Fred stayed, staring at me with tears in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Anna. I believe you, you know I do. I know you wouldn't do anything like that.." He rambled. "Don't worry, George will stop being such a prat soon."

"You know what? Talking to Charlie made me realize a few things. I deserve to be treated a hell of a lot better. You're both treating me like a criminal when I've done nothing wrong. Why should I stay with someone who constantly questions my every move and for some reason believe they can't trust me? Why should I wait for them to realize how stupid they're being?"

"Anna, what are you saying?"

"That George is doing his damnedest to make me out to be the bad guy."

"Anna..."

"Is he cheating on me?"

"Why would you ask that? You know better than that!"

"Because he's starting to use this nonsense as a coverup for what's really going on. If anyone is acting suspicious it's him."

"Look, I don't know what George's problem is but I guarantee you that he's been one hundred percent faithful."

"The two of you better figure out what you want before I give up. I'm done defending myself. Just know I won't be waiting around forever."

I walked by him and out of the room only to find Charlie leaning against the wall opposite of the door.

"Eaves dropping, Charlie?" I said, chuckling when he blushed.

"Quite a speech you gave in there."

"Yep."

"Where you off to now?"

"To go give George the same speech. Planning on eaves dropping on that conversation, too?"

"Yep."

"I don't think you'll have to follow me to be able to hear how it's going to go," I told him as I turned to go up the staircase. He nodded then walked into the kitchen where the rest of the family was still seated. I knocked on the door on the room the twins and I would have been sharing.

"What do you want, Anna?"

"You and I need to have a little talk, George." I heard him sigh before he opened the door.

"What do we have to have a little talk about," He asked as he plopped back down on his bed.

"The way you've been treating me. It's just ridiculous. You've known me long enough to know better than what you're trying to pin on me. You're treating me like a criminal when I've not done a single thing wrong. I've got enough bullshit going on, I don't need anymore of your nonsense." I paused for a moment, waiting for him to say something. He stayed silent.

"Why are you pushing this issue so much? We both know I haven't cheated on you, but you're trying awfully hard to make me the bad guy. And before you ask what I'm trying to say, I'm going to ask you flat out. Are you cheating on me, George?"

"What? That's just ridiculous, you know I would never do that. I love you, why on earth would I do anything to jeopardize what we have?"

"So you treating me like shit isn't jeopardizing our relationship at all, right? George, pull your head out of your ass and figure out what the hell you want from me. I'm not waiting around forever so you better figure out what it is soon."

"Charlie put you up to this, didn't he?"

"Charlie didn't put me up to anything. When we were talking, he made me realize a few things, and he's absolutely right. I don't deserve this bullshit. Like I said, George. Figure out what you want and you better have a damned good apology for all this nonsense you've been doing lately."

"What?"

"You heard me, George. I won't repeat myself." I walked out of the door and back downstairs. It didn't take long for the twins to come rushing out of their prospective areas and to my side. Whether they had decided what they wanted or if they were just trying to keep Charlie away from me I wasn't sure. I rolled my eyes at the two of them.

"I just needed to bitch you out, sooner, huh?"

"Apparently so," Fred said, smirking at me.

"We're sorry," they said at the same time.

We stayed at Grimauld place for a few days, with the twins worshiping the ground I walked on. Charlie laughed every time the twins glared at him. One fixed problem was faced with an even more troubling one- Charlie.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Do I Need to Apologize or say You're Welcome?**

 **A/N: Once again, thanks to tanzar81 who listens (reads?) to my incessant rants (including ones about pink lipstick) and random ideas.**

As soon as we ended up back in Dumbledore's office, we realized that even in the few days we were gone, things had drastically changed. For example, Dumbledore was no longer in charge. The ministry and Umbridge had completely taken over the school and no one was too happy about that. I couldn't very well tell her about the Time Turner so I managed to corner Dumbledore after dinner and tell him about Granger, Potter, and Ron knowing. He said he'd take care of the issue, but cautioned me to be more careful.

I was practically dragged back to Gryffindor Tower where the twins handed me every piece of parchment and every notebook they had full of ideas for the Ultimate Prank and how to pull it off. As I flipped through the pages, I couldn't help but be a little more than impressed.

"Guys, this is amazing! How did you manage to figure it out without me?"

"Oh, ha ha. We do possess brains, you know," George said before kissing my cheek. I smiled and looked at the both of them.

"You're going to be able to pull this off flawlessly. You won't get into any trouble because you're just going to fly out of here right away, this is just going to be spectacular! For the first time ever, I'm actually looking forward to midterms! I hugged both of them then sat down on Fred's bed. No later than 5 seconds later, I had a twin on each side of me. They were still being extremely clingy and I hardly had a moment to breathe. It was sweet of them, it really was, but it was quite irritating at the same time. I supposed it was better to be smothered with love than treated the way they had treated me less than two days before, but it was still extremely annoying. I wrote a letter to Charlie about it because I knew he would find it amusing. His response was : 'I don't know whether to say you're welcome, or apologize.' I rolled my eyes and shook my head after laughing quietly about it.

"What's so funny?" Fred asked me.

"Oh, got a letter from Charlie."

"Why would Charlie be sending you letters?"

"Maybe because we're _friends_ Fredrick. Don't start that nonsense again."

"Sorry," he said quietly.

"What does Charlie mean with you're in a surprise of a lifetime?" George asked as he looked over my shoulder.

"I wouldn't know, George. He said it's a _surprise_." I was a little snappy with the two of them, but it was something they were getting used to. After all, I never got any time to myself and they knew I needed that. Unfortunately, that was the least of my concerns.

My main concern was Lee. He was looking at me with a murderous, absolutely insane expression on his face and needless to say, I was scared shitless. I told the twins, they had noticed his behavior, too, and were both slightly worried. Hopefully we were just being paranoid and nothing was going to happen. He was just going mildly insane and was actually harmless, we hoped so anyway. We really, really hoped so.

The other problem was Granger. She had shown that she was quick to betray me, and that just wasn't good. We all watched her like a hawk over every interaction I had with her, yes, even studying. The twins even joined us in the library, which was a shock to absolutely everyone, especially Madam Pince who kept an eye on them, expecting them to ruin her precious books. On one hand, she really didn't have anything to use against me since Dumbledore had obliviated those memories from her brain. On the other hand, she could team up with Lee to torment me for no reason.

I missed dinner for the fifth time since we'd been back, the twins having decided to knick food from the kitchens so we could have dinner together without all the noise. The elves didn't seem to mind and Malfoy's elf even brought an extra bottle of fire whiskey for us. I was okay with it, and it was really sweet of them, but by the third night I just wanted to go down to the Great Hall and spend time with my friends that I hardly saw anymore.

"This is really sweet of you, guys, but we can go down to the Great Hall with everyone else, we don't need to eat dinner here every night, you know."

"But we like having you to ourselves," the twins said at the same time.

"You have me to yourselves quite a bit. Free periods we have together, after classes, before we go to bed, every morning...it's not like we never spend any time together. We hardly spend time with anyone else."

"Okay, so maybe we have you to ourselves a lot, but is dinner with just the three of us so bad?" George asked.

"I suppose not, but I'd still like to see my other friends, you know."

"Tomorrow night, okay? One last private dinner."

"Oh, I guess so," I said, kissing his cheek.

"And one more breakfast in bed," George added.

"Fine, I guess," I shrugged my shoulders then dug in to the mashed potatoes and gravy.

"I am stuffed," I said a few minutes later. "I may have eaten too much." I stretched out on the bed with a groan. Yep, I had definitely eaten too much.

"Me too," George said as he plopped down beside me.

"Why can't you lay down like a normal person? Do you always have to jump or plop onto the bed?" I asked with a chuckled.

"Have you ever known Fred and I to be normal?"

"Valid point. So, any idea what Charlie's surprise is?"

"Nope. Never mentioned anything to us about it. Knowing him it'll the last thing we think would happen," Fred said as he plopped down on the other side of me. I groaned and held onto my stomach.

"Too much moving," I said as I got a little queasy.

The rest of the night was spent with the twins working on their project and me with my head stuck in a book. I may have taken my O.W.L.s early, but that didn't mean I was a genius. Even with all the studying I was having a hard time with Ancient Runes. When it came to using them in complex potions, prank products, it was easy. Trying to solve equations I didn't care about was a pain in the ass. I wear it was like I was reading Greek. I sighed and put my book on the bed next to me.

"Ugh, you sure I can't come with you? I'll never pass this damn exam. Might as well skip out early."

"No, you are NOT coming with us. You're going to stay here like a good little girl," George said. "And you ARE coming back next year, so don't even think about skipping out next year."

"Have you suddenly turned into my parents?" I asked, actually getting slightly annoyed. I hated when they decided they knew what was best for me and that I had to do what they said.

"Who the hell are you to tell me what to do, anyway?" I snapped.

"Woah, calm down, Anna," Fred said as he glanced over my way.

"You don't give me room to breath, I hardly get to see my friends because you constantly want me to yourselves, and now you're telling me what to do. It's really starting to piss me off, guys."

"Sorry," they said at the same time.

"Everyone is probably in the Great Hall if you want to go down."

"I think I'll do that." I set my book down on the dresser next to the bed and headed out. Once there, I sat next to Granger.

"You're alive!" she said. "We haven't seen you in DAYS!"

"That's because Thing One and Thing Two decided that they had to have me to themselves at all times." Granger and Potter chuckled at my muggle story book reference while Ron looked at me like I had grown another head.

"Never mind, Ronald," Granger said. "Have you heard we're getting a new Care of Magical Creatures Professor?"

"Uh, no. Do you know who yet?"

"No, Dumbledore said we were getting a new Professor and which class but didn't say who, just that he was running late and wouldn't be joining us for dinner," Granger said, stopping Potter from explaining.

"I hope he's cute," Ginny said. I chuckled. She had always complained that there weren't any good looking teachers around and that it would be easier to concentrate if we had something good to look at instead of old men and women. I had given up telling her she'd pay even less attention if there was some better scenery.

That night, I spent time in the common room with my friends, catching up on everything I had missed while I was gone and kidnapped by the twins. Lee was staring from a shadowed corner of the room and it was pretty unnerving.

"What the hell is going on with Lee? He's even creepier than when I left."

"No one really knows what's going on with him. He doesn't really talk to anyone anymore," Ginny said from her spot on the floor in front of the couch I was lounging on. I shrugged.

"How's Operation Granger going?" Granger blushed.

"What's Operation Granger?" Harry asked.

"Oh..um...it's kind of been on hold..." she said quietly.

"What's Operation Granger?" Harry asked again. We ignored him and moved onto girly stuff, which was odd for me.

A few hours later, 1am to be specific, we headed up to our dorms.

"You were gone a long time," George complained.

"I was in the common room for most of the night, you could have come down."

"But you need room to _breath_ you said and time with your friends. We figured you meant to leave you alone."

I sighed, not really wanting to get into a fight. I jumped into the shower and was quickly joined by two red heads who decided I was lonely. I chuckled and let Fred wash my hair.

"I swear to Merlin, if you get soap in my eye...OUCH, god damn it Fred!" I said as I frantically wiped at my eyes.

"Sorry," he said as he turned me around so I could rinse out my hair. George, on the other hand, was scrubbing me down with my favorite body wash. I laughed as he tickled my sides.

"There's the Anna we love," he said before kissing my cheek.

"Happy and laughing."

We stepped out once everyone was squeaky clean, threw on some pajamas, and curled up together in George's bed.

"Why didn't you ever shower with _me_ ," Lee said from the other side of the room.

"Because you're a pig," I replied.

"All the more reason for a shower," he added.

"Ugh, you know what I meant. Not funny. Leave me alone," I said as I curled up between my two favorite people.

As promised, I had my last breakfast in bed (thank god) before heading down to my first class- Ancient Runes where I immediately got a headache trying to understand what the hell the Professor was talking about. An hour into the day and I already had a migraine, never ever a good sign. Next was Charms, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination, and Herbology, then repeat them all again. The Time Turner made my day way longer than I liked, but such is life. The last class of my day was Care of Magical Creatures which I loved. Mainly because we were usually outside. I was shocked when I saw a red head getting ready to teach a group of 5th year Gryffindors. I walked closer and there stood Charlie Weasley with almost every female student drooling. I rolled my eyes before I walked up to him and smacked him with one of my books.

"Surprise of a life time, huh?" I said, hitting him for the second time.

"I didn't lie about that, now did I?" He asked as he dodged another smack.

"You could have said, HEY, so I'm the new teacher for your favorite class! It would have been nice so I could have called you names and beat you up before class instead of with them watching," I said laughing as he tried to look serious. "Oh, don't even try looking serious, Charlie. Oh, I'm sorry. _Professor Weasley_. That just sounds wrong," I said cringing before he pushed me back with the rest of the students.

"Behave," he told me.

"Don't I always?"

"In all the years I have known you, you have never behaved. The first time we met you fed me one of the twins' canary cremes."

"Aww, but you made such a cute little canary!"

"Shut up, I have a class to teach."

"Yes, _Professor Weasley._ "

"I brought something very special with me today," He said as he walked around to the pen behind Hagrid's hut.

"Oh shush," he said to the animal before he led it out to the group.

"You brought a DRAGON!?" Ron said from his spot next to Harry and Granger.

"What would your mother say," I said, shaking my head. "Putting all of us students in terrible danger."

"Oh shut it, Anna," he said, grinning at me.

"That's one of the hatchlings you showed me when you took me to Romania over the summer!"

"Yes, he is."

"He's grown so much!"

"Can we touch him?" I heard one of the random students say.

"Probably not a good idea," I told Charlie as I saw him start to smile. "I still have the scar from him scratching me on my arm and he was just tiny then! You know how dangerous dragons are, you idiot!"

"Anna, I wouldn't have brought him if he was completely dangerous. Kelly was injured by another dragon and isn't able to breath fire anymore."

"Oh, my poor Kelly!" I said before I set my bag down and headed over to him. "Your still a good boy, aren't you?" I said as I scratched behind his ear. "Yes you are!"

Charlie shook his head.

"Weren't you just saying students shouldn't touch him?"

"But this is my baby, aren't you Kelly?" I said before hugging my dragon's neck. Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Alright, this is Kelly, a Norwegian Ridge back," He told the class. He then gave specifics on how to tell whether he was from north or south of his habitat. I rolled my eyes, he had taught me that ages ago. After class, I stayed behind.

"Well, how did I do?" he asked, shifting his weight from foot too foot.

"Most of the girls were drooling and not paying attention while the boys were either mad at their girlfriends or just in shock there was a dragon within reaching distance.

" _You_ weren't drooling and you weren't really shocked about Kelly being here."

"Well, I was there when Kelly hatched and I've known you for a long time."

"Was this your last class?" I nodded, walking past him and back to Kelly. I played with my favorite dragon completely ignoring the red head behind me watching with a smile on his face. I stayed longer than I realized and the twins came looking.

"Where's Anna?"

"Playing with Kelly."

"Kelly?"

"The dragon she saw hatch when I took her to Romania that one time."

"You brought a dragon to Hogwarts...again..."

"Yep. Don't you want to go see her?"

"No thanks, after the Triwizard Tournament I prefer to stay away from them. We'll just wait here."

"I'll go get her," he said.

He tapped my shoulder, spooking me a bit. Kelly swung his tail, but we were both able to move before any damage was done.

"Sorry. The twins are here to get you."

"Alright." I gave him a hug before I walked up to the twins. "You did pretty good today, Charlie. I promise not to give you too much trouble next class."

"Hold up, I'll walk up with you guys. It's almost dinner anyway."

Charlie took to sitting with us instead of up at the head table saying it was weird to be sitting next to the people who gave him detention over the years. Granger pulled me aside one day and asked me to actually introduce her to him on a more personal level. I laughed and told her to do it herself. I explained that he's pretty laid back and it's not like he was scary or anything.

"You've known him for a long time, of course he's not scary to YOU!"

"Charlie!"

"What?" He said, stopping his conversation with Percy.

"Granger wants to introduce herself because she thinks you're hot!" The earned me a hard elbow to the ribs from my sister.

"Oh...hi," he said, giving her a small wave before he started teasing me.

"Ugh, you can't have all the Weasleys to yourself, Anna!" She said, a little too loudly. The twins and Charlie laughed, making Granger blush even more than before.

"Don't worry, Granger. It's not that hard to snag a Weasley. All it takes is food! Besides, you're more than welcome to go after Ron, Percy and even Ginny if you want!"

The rest of the meal was constant laughter as Charlie told stories about what had happened to him and a few other Dragon Keepers on the reserve he worked on. At the end of the night, Charlie went to his quarters while the rest of us went back to Gryffindor Tower.

"God, Anna, why did you do that?" Granger said, obviously pretty pissed off.

"Why did I do what?"

"You embarrassed me in front of Charlie!"

"Well, you wouldn't introduce yourself, so I thought I'd do it for you. Besides, it's just Charlie. You know, if you pulled your face out of a book for more than eating, you'd look a lot better. After all, we do look almost exactly alike. Without a book replacing your face you'd be pretty good looking."

"Oh shut it," she said, immediately burying her face in a book. I rolled my eyes and headed up the dorm with the twins but not without noticing Lee leering at me. Once again, I was creeped out. The more he did it, the more uncomfortable I got.

Over the next few days, everything went on as normal, me giving Charlie a hard time during classes him picking on me at meals, twins working on their project, and me working on my ever flowing stream of homework. I swore it would never end. Granger had started hitting on the twins when I wasn't around to test her Weasley Snagging Skills. It didn't work so great for her. They told me about it one night and all I could do was laugh.

As midterms grew closer, I got more and more nervous. Not for the tests, I was pretty sure I'd ace all of them, but because the twins were leaving. Lee was still creeping me out and it was starting to get worse. I told the twins, but they told me not to worry about it and that I'd be fine. I sighed and nodded, but I knew something was up.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: A VERY Unfortunate Event**

 **WARNING: THIS CHAPTER HAS SCENES OF TORTURE AND INSINUATED RAPE, DO NOT READ IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT! SCENES OF GRAPHIC NATURE WILL APPEAR IN ITALICS, YOU CAN SKIP OVER THEM.**

 **Thanks to tanzar81 who suffers through reading my ideas even if they don't make sense. :)**

 **Don't own anything but Anna!**

Midterms had started and I was right, Ancient Runes had been horrible. I was mildly upset that the twins hadn't decided to use that test to sweep in and cause ultimate chaos. I silently cursed them as I answered question after question that gave me a huge headache. Of course they decided Care of Magical Creatures would be the best idea since Charlie would be there to see.

Two in the afternoon, the twins came flying into the room lighting their patented Weasley Fireworks all over the place. The whole room was laughing as Umbridge was chased out of the room by a firework shaped like a dragon which had Charlie laughing himself to tears. After a quick good bye and a kiss on the cheek the twins flew out the window and headed towards the burrow. Charlie made his way over to me and put an arm around my shoulders as Granger and Potter ran out of the room after Umbridge.

Two hours later it was reported that Umbridge had left and Hogwarts was back under Dumbledore's control. Charlie immediately decided to throw a party in Gryffindor Tower because well...that's just sort of the thing Gryffindors do. Amusingly enough, Dumbledore had approved the party since there was going to be "Professor" there to supervise. Charlie even invited Dumbledore and McGonagall to the party but they said they'd leave the partying to the young people and to keep the alcohol to a minimum, and first years should be in their dorms by 10pm.

It wasn't only Gryffindors that showed up. There were a fair amount of students from other houses as well which we were shocked to see. There were two things missing from the party though, and it just didn't feel the same. Charlie seemed to notice and wrapped me up in a hug.

"Don't let them leaving bring you down, Anna, if it wasn't for them we wouldn't be having this party," he said, kissing my forehead. I chuckled as I saw Granger over in the corner snogging Ron.

"Looks like she snagged a Weasley after all," I said, pointing them out.

"Shouldn't you be upset that my little brother is making out with your sister?"  
"Shouldn't you be upset that your little brother is making out with my sister?"

"Good point. Would you like a drink, milady?"

"Of course, dear sir," I said, taking his offered arm as he walked over to the beverage table.

"Butter beer, wine, or fire whiskey?"

"Charlie, that has got to be the dumbest question ever. You were the first one to get me drunk, you should know my drink preference by now."

"Fire whiskey it is," he grinned at me and grabbed the nearest bottle for the two of us.

"As much as I enjoy partying with Gryffindors, I think a party of our one would be much more fun," he said before grabbing my hand. I chuckled as he lead me out of the tower, out of the castle, and to the Black Lake.

"So, what brings us here, dear sir?" I asked as he pulled me to the ground beside him.

"Truthfully, I didn't like the way Lee has been looking at you lately, so I figured I'd whisk you away before he could do anything stupid."

"Ohhh, so it had nothing to do with wanting to have me all to yourself for awhile, eh? We haven't had much time together for long time."

"Not since I took you to Romania."

"Yeah, first Christmas after my parents died, I remember. And that was the first New Years' Eve I ever got drunk. Oh my gods, Molly was PISSED!"

You were 13, drunk, and on the roof."

"Who's the one who got me drunk, hmm?"

"You needed it!" I chuckled.

"After all these years, I can't believe Kelly still remembers me!"

"Of course he does. You were there the day he hatched, first one to play with him, he wouldn't leave your side for the week you were there!"

"How did he get hurt?"

"Another male dragon attacked him for sniffing around his female."

"Oh...my poor baby!"

"Remember last year when I nearly had my arm bit off?"

"Yeah."

"Where was the 'oh poor baby,' for me?"

"You were the one who decided to jump instead instead of duck."

"You're so mean to me," he said, pouting.

"I'm the nicest person you know," I said, taking another swig before lying on my back.

"No you're not. If you were the nicest person I know then why don't you fuss over my every wound?"

"Isn't that what the _healer_ is for? Besides do you really think I have the time to go to Romania every five minutes?"

"Every five minutes?"

"Okay, ten minutes. Who knows, I might be facing the same problem in a couple of years. I've been thinking of working on the reserve once I graduate."

"You'd be great at it."

"I know."

We were silent for a few minutes, just staring at the sky.

"How are the twins treating you?"

"Still clingy. Dinner was the first time I've gotten away from them at all and lunch today was the first time I've eaten somewhere other than the dorm."

"Should I say you're welcome or apologize?"

"Apologize. You know me, I need space, too. I love them with all my heart and I'm glad everything's okay again...but I think they're taking it a little too far. It's driving me nuts."

"Well, I'm sorry, then. What's up with Lee? I'm not a big fan of the way he's been acting towards you. Don't think I haven't heard the things he's been saying to you."

"I don't really know what his problem is. He was all creepy like before we left then when the twins and I came back and our relationship was all patched up, it was like he went insane. He's been lurking in corners, staring at me constantly, and I swear he's been stalking me. It's really starting to creep me out...well, it was creeping me out long before this, now it's downright scary. I don't have the twins to watch my back anymore so I'm pretty fucked that way. I'm pretty sure he's up to something and I'm more than sure I won't like it."

"I'll watch out for you as best as I can, you know."

"I know you will. My very own ginger Superman." I said before the fire whiskey started putting me to sleep. "Just like you always have been. Remember when you taught me to fly when I was 10?"

"Of course, you fell off before you were 5 feet off the ground!"

"Just think of how pissed Molly would have been if you wouldn't have managed to get rid of the bruises!"

"I wouldn't be here to talk about it," he said, a huge smile on his face. "Remember when you and the twins built a tree house and no one was supposed to know?"  
"Yeah, hey! How do you know that?"

"Because I'm the one who actually built it. What you guys had going on was a serious safety hazard. You would have fallen through!"

"I suppose I owe you a belated thank you on that one," I said before letting out a yawn.

Come on, Sleeping Beauty, time to go to bed."

"Sleeping Beauty?"

"You told me that story when I came to the burrow after Amber dumped me."

"You were a mess and drunk as hell. Sleeping Beauty used to put me to sleep, so I figured it'd work for you. I ended up sleeping on the kitchen floor with your head on my lap! You refused to move!"

"You've been through a hell of a lot more than I have, but you've always been there to pick up the pieces for me...sometimes literally. You were 13 the first time you ended up picking up the pieces, you know. A week after my birthday."

"Yep, that was the first time Amber broke up with you. Why you kept going back to her, I've never figured out. It took THREE times for you to get it through your head that she's nothing but a cheating bitch."

"I know, I know. I was stupid."

"And all because, and I quote "She had great rack."

"Oh shut it," he said, chuckling.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"When have you NOT been able to?"  
"I've been using a time turner all year and have been taking double the classes. I took my O. last year and since I've been using the time turner I'm technically 16. The only ones that know are you, Fred, George, and Dumbledore...well, and me of course," I said before yawning. "Ugh, I think it's time for bed. I'm gonna have to crash on the couch though."

"Why?"

"Cause I've been staying the boys' dorm with the twins for a few years now. I can't anymore. I gotta move back to the girls' dorms and I don't feel like doing that tonight."

"You actually got away with staying with the twins?"

"Yep. Dumbledore knew about it, too. I got my own bed there and everything, not that it ever got used."

"Ugh, I don't need to hear about you having sex with my brothers," he said, covering his ears.

"Charlie, I haven't had sex with your brothers, or anyone for that matter."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"Wow."

"Don't believe the rumor mill around here. It's mostly a load of bullshit. You know, rumors. Charlie...I don't want to be here anymore. It already just feels wrong without the twins. If I stay I'll probably end up getting hurt. Can't I just run away and start working with the hatchlings in Romania? We both know that's what I'm going to do after I graduate anyway."

"Finish out the school year first, then we can run away to Romania. I'm not sure the twins will like it though. Weren't you supposed to own a shop with them?"

"Yeah, I was. It's just not my thing anymore. Don't get me wrong, a good prank is always great but I just don't center my life around it anymore. The prank shop...that's perfect for the twins but not so much for me," I admitted. He nodded and stood before pulling me off the ground.

"Come on, time to go back to your tower, Princess," he said. I grinned, he hadn't called me that in years. I almost fell over, not being able to stand up straight.

"Piggy back ride!" I declared before I jumped on his back. He laughed and grabbed my legs so I wouldn't fall. I squealed as he bent over to grab the now empty bottles before we headed into the castle. Just as we made it into the doors, we ran into the Headmaster. Thankfully we didn't _literally_ run into him.

"Hello, Headmaster," I said before burping. "How are you this evening?"

He looked at us and chuckled.

"I see Professor Weasley saved you from drinking with your peers."

"Professor Weasley just sounds _wrong_." I shivered. "But maybe it's cause I've known him forever," I said before kissing Charlie's cheek.

"I trust nothing inappropriate happened between the two of you." I burped again.

"Nope, just talking about the good ol' days. Turns out the twins and I weren't as great as carpenters as we thought we were when we were little! While we thought we were doing such a great job, it was Charlie fixing up our horrible carpentry!" The Headmaster smiled. I laid my head down on Charlie's shoulder. "I'm tired," I mumbled before falling asleep.

I woke up the next morning on the couch in the common room with Charlie lying on the floor next to it. I immediately groaned and covered my eyes as people started wandering out of their dorms to head down to breakfast.

"Too loud," I said. "Ugh, my _head_. I'm never drinking again."

"You said that last time," Charlie said as he sat up.

"Professor Weasley!" Granger said, shocked to see him in the common room.

"Hello, Granger."

"What are you doing here?"

"After I brought Anna back up here, I was too drunk to walk to my chambers, so I stayed here instead of passing out in a hallway."

"Do you have a habit of getting drunk with students?" Granger asked, a little to happily.

"Ugh, Charlie is NOT a Professor. It's just _weird._ I'm not going to class this morning, by the way, Charlie."

"Yes you are."

"I'm too hungover to listen to Trelawny go on and on about some rubbish about crystal balls."

"You can take a hangover potion."

"Charlie, you know those just make me sick. We discovered that last time you got me drunk and I ended up puking on you."

"If _I_ have to go to class, so do you. All _you_ have to do is sit there. I actually have to teach."

"Oh please, all you have to do is stand there and let the girls drool over you. You wouldn't have to say a word!"

Unfortunately for me, Charlie won and I ended up going to classes anyway. Double classes while hungover and trying to avoid Lee was not an easy task. Charlie had talked to Percy, Ron, and Harry to have them watch over me when he couldn't, but sneaking around using the time turner wasn't making it easy on them.

 _Finally, one day Lee caught me by surprise with a tripping hex. A quick expelliarmus later and my wand was across the room. I was terrified as I saw him walk over to me, an evil look in his eyes. I knew what was going to happen would be bad, really bad. I screamed when the first crucio curse hit me, my every nerve was on fire, I felt like I was going to implode while at the same time I was going to be torn apart. Never had I felt so much pain. After the he dropped the curse, he laughed. He didn't say anything, all he did was laugh. It chilled me right down to the bone and I knew he wasn't done with me yet. A few cutting hexes, punches, kicks and bruises later, I was nothing but a bloody mess. Literally._

 _And still he wasn't done with me. My clothes were torn from me and I was forcefully pushed up against the wall._

 _"You'll give it up to the twins, but not me, huh?"_

 _"Lee, stop!" I begged._

 _"How many have you fucked, hmm? Fred, George...I bet you've been fucking Charlie, too."_

 _"No, Lee! Please stop it! You're hurting me!"_

 _"I know I am," he said, grinning at me without stopping. "That's kind of the whole point of this, he told me before tossing me to the ground. He continued to curse, hex, and beat me until someone came up behind him, petrifying him before they came to my rescue._

I was sobbing and screaming for help like I had been for the entire...I didn't even know what to call it Charlie found me curled up in a corner and Lee laughing as he tormented me. I was loosing blood and quickly. After a few quick healing spells that would help stop the bleeding he rushed me up to the hospital wing He didn't ask questions until we got there, letting me cry on his shoulder instead.. He had petrified Lee, leaving him in the hallway he had found us in. Lee was in for a world of trouble. If the Wizengamot didn't do anything about it, I was fairly sure Charlie would tear him limb from limb.

I couldn't believe my eyes. Right in front of me, Lee was torturing my closest friend who I had promised I would watch over her and this wouldn't happen to her. Oh how wrong I had been. I petrified Lee immediately before I took care of some of her lesser injuries. Once we got the hospital wing, chaos started.

"Oh my god, what happened to her?" Poppy asked me.

"I didn't see everything, but when I found them he had her under the cruicatius curse. I stopped some of the bleeding from...before I got brought her here. There was so much blood, Poppy!" I was having a hard time keeping the tears at bay as I set Anna down on one of the hospital beds.

"You're telling me Lee Jordan did...this...to her?"

"Yes," I said. "He's been acting strangely around her for months now."

"Anna, we need to know what happened. Can you tell us?" Poppy asked. Anna shook her head profusely, refusing to talk. She clung onto my hand, not letting me go anywhere. Poppy nodded, seemingly understanding before she contacted Dumbledore and McGonagall to come to the hospital wing.

McGonagall burst into tears as soon as she saw Anna's condition and rushed to her side. Anna flinched and moved closer to me. I let Dumbledore know where I had left Lee and he left to retrieve him.

"Anna, will you speak to us?" She shook her head, once again refusing to talk.

They wanted me to talk about ….it. I didn't want to talk about it because that would mean I would have to think about it which was one of the last things I wanted to do. I heard Poppy and McGonagall talking in the background after stepping away. I clung to Charlie like he was my life line and he pretty much was. He knelt down to be closer to me. He stroked my hair as he spoke softly.

"I'm so sorry, Anna...I should have listened to you...I should have watched you closer..." I shook my head, trying to tell him it wasn't his fault. I had been sloppy again and wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. I had known Lee had been stalking me, but I had no idea he was going to do something like...this.

"You're going to be okay, Anna. I'm here and if you don't want me to leave, I won't. Not even if aurors come and say I have to. I won't leave unless you say I can go, okay?" I nodded.

Dumbledore came back with Lee and immediately contacted the aurors. Poppy healed everything she could, but explained she had to let some of it be healed by the Mediwitches/wizards at St. Mungos so there would be proper documentation of it. I nodded letting her know I understood, but I still refused to talk.

"Anna, I know this is difficult, but we need to know exactly what happened," Dumbledore said as he walked to the other side of my bed. I shook my head, but then got an idea.

"Couldn't you just take the memory out and view it that way? You'd get exactly what happened and I wouldn't have to talk about...it. You have my permission to do so."

A few hours later, everything was set. Official documents were given to the aurors, copies of memories were made to put in evidence against Lee. I didn't bother to find out about what happened to him. I was ordered to stay at St. Mungos for at least two days so they could see how I was handling the situation. I wouldn't let Charlie leave my side even when Molly and Arthur showed up unexpectedly. McGonagall had contacted them and told them what had happened to me. Molly immediately started on her 'poor baby, come here and give me a hug' thing that she always did when a loved one got hurt. I flinched and pulled away, getting as close to Charlie as I could.

"Sorry, Mum. She's a little jumpy. I'm the only one that can get close to her at all,"Charlie explained. Molly didn't look too happy about it but her feelings on the situation didn't matter. An hour later, the twins showed up to see how I was, but upon seeing me so closer to Charlie, they weren't too happy about it. George immediately started in on how he should have known something was up when they saw Charlie and I in the library at Grimmauld place. Fred agreed, glaring at me. Eventually all the yelling was starting to really upset. I started shaking and crying and Charlie was the only one that noticed The twins had yet to ask how I was or anything concerning my health, all they cared about was me clinging onto their older brother for support.

"Charlie, we'd like to talk to her alone, so if you don't mind," George said, glaring at his brother.

"No, Charlie doesn't leave," I said quickly and quietly.

"Anna, we just want to spend some time with you," Fred said quietly as he tried to put a strand of hair behind my ear. I flinched.

"What the hell was that?" Fred said, glaring at me. "You'll hang off of my brother but won't let your own BOYFRIEND even touch your hair? What the hell is wrong with you!"

"I was just..." I said, not really wanting to say it "And all you care about is that Charlie is the one comforting me. Do you even care what actually happened, Fred, or just that Charlie is 'stepping in on your territory' as you said."

"Of course we care," George said.

"I'm having a hard time believing that," I said quietly.

"Fine. Don't believe us. It's obvious you don't care if we're here or not you have _Charlie_." Fred said before heading out of the room. George followed without even a second glance at me. I started sobbing and Charlie immediately pulled me into his arms and let me cry on him...again.

"The twins are just being stupid. They'll come around, you'll see," he said quietly as he rubbed my back.

"They...they didn't even care that I was hurt," I said between sobs.

"I'm here, though. Even if they turn their backs on you, I'm here," he said, kissing the top of my head.

"Thank you, Charlie."

Eventually I fell asleep and awoke to the soft snore of my new favorite Weasley. I couldn't help but grin and snuggle closer to him since he had somehow managed to find enough room for the both of us on the tiny hospital bed.

Dumbledore stopped by the next morning with Molly and Arthur with a foreboding looking on his face, which was never a good thing.

"Miss Hughes, I've come to ask you a serious question."

"Alright," I said, deciding I didn't really care about formalities.

"Molly, Arthur and I have already talked about it but have agreed that the final answer needs to come from you. Do you wish to return to Hogwarts?"

"NO!" I said quickly and a little too loudly. "There's no way I can go back. I've already taken my O. , I really don't need to go back anyway. I'm sorry, Headmaster, but there is no way I will ever feel safe at Hogwarts again."

"I understand completely. I will get the necessary forms to Mr., and Mrs. Weasley."

I was released from the hospital and taken back to the burrow. I was still reluctant to let go of Charlie, but knew I had to. He needed to go back to finish for his classes. The twins refused to talk to me, let alone acknowledge my presence. Molly seemed to notice.

"Do you still want to share a room with them? Their idiotic behavior is just.."

"Idiotic? No, I really don't want to share with them. They obviously don't want to be anywhere near me and right now I return the sentiment. Would there be a chance to move my stuff to Charlie's room?"

"Not a problem dear. I'll help you."

An hour later, I was curled up in Charlie's old bed, trying not to freak out. I just didn't feel safe without him even in the home I had grown up in.

A few days later, the twins had finally started talking to me but did not apologize.

"Why were you such dicks to me when I was in the hospital?"

"Because you were hanging off of Charlie. We're your boyfriends, for Merlin's sake. If you should need comforting, it should be from US not our BROTHER!" George snapped at me. I nodded, looking at the floor. I couldn't deal with people snapping at each other and the twins seemed to be doing that quite a bit around of me.

"What you need to understand is that after...it...happened, Charlie was the one to save me from things getting even worse. Lee was going to kill me, I could tell. You don't know what happened..." I didn't want to say, but I knew they would never understand without knowing everything.

"What happened?" Fred asked me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I winced but didn't pull away.

"Lee jumped me in the hallway..." I told them the full story. By the end, they had tears in their eyes.

"We never should have left, if we wouldn't have left that never would have happened, we're so sorry," he said, trying to hug me. I backed out of his grip, but instead of getting mad he nodded and let go. Even George seemed to understand.

"You understand why I'm so dependent on Charlie?"

"We don't like it, but yeah. We understand, besides, he left to go back to Hogwarts anyway, so it's not like we have to see it every day.

When we went to bed that night, we were on better terms which was a load off my shoulders.

I had a smile on my face as I laid under the covers, wrapped in one of Charlie's old quiddich sweaters. I fell asleep quicker than usual, probably because I was in a good mood for once. An hour later, I sat straight up screaming at the top of my lungs. My dream had been vivid...a complete view of what had happened to me, but this time from how it looked from Lee's form. The twins, Molly and Arthur immediately rushed into my room to see what was wrong.

"Charlie...get Charlie," I said quietly before wrapping my arms around the knees I had brought up to my chest. The twins looked upset, but said nothing and I wasn't about to bring it up. What I needed was Charlie, the only one who could keep me sane after everything that had happened. Molly nodded and ran to the kitchen. Everyone else stayed in the room with me. I was thankful that so many people cared about me, and I knew I was safe...I just needed the reassurance from the one person I truly trusted.

Twenty minutes later, he rushed into the room and wrapped me in his arms.

"I never should have left. I should have quit, I'm sorry..." he quickly apologized before kissing the top of my head. I started crying.

"You're okay, Anna. You're safe. No one is going to hurt you here, he's never going to hurt you again," He whispered as he rocked me back and forth like a small child. I nodded, still holding on to his shirt tightly.

"Mum, can you floo Dumbledore& let him know I won't be back? He said he could take over my classes if there was an emergency and there's no way I'm not leaving her side if she doesn't want me to. Do you need me to stay, Anna?"

I nodded, happy with his answer. I yawned, finally calm enough to get back to sleep. Charlie went to set me down and let me sleep, but I wouldn't let him leave. He looked to his mum who nodded. He left my side long enough to change into some pajamas then joined me under the covers. He pulled me to his side and I quickly fell asleep. I knew the twins weren't going to happy when they found out, but I was sick of them judging my every move. I needed Charlie and that was that. They could stick it up their asses if they couldn't deal with it, I was getting more than sick of their crap.

 **Thanks for reading, leave a review and let me know what you think! -Sally**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Let the Healing Begin**

 **A/n: Thanks to everyone that's been reading this story. Thanks to tanzar81 for being my sounding board as usual.**

 **Dear Guest, Percy is at Hogwarts because I said so...which translates into I forgot the time line...so Percy is there.**

 **I don't own anything!**

The twins weren't happy at all that Charlie was staying at the burrow, to make matters worse, I still had nightmares which made it pointless to sleep without Charlie since I'd end up in his room anyway. Molly didn't talk about what happened, but still looked at me with pity in her eyes. It drove me up a wall, so I avoided her at all costs.

Fred and George disappeared more and more often and no one knew why. I couldn't bring myself to care much, they had been doing nothing but make things in the house tense and awkward. It was nice to have that break and not be glared at every time I walked into a room with a red head that wasn't one of them.

It was a nice, quiet day where Arthur was at work and Molly was off doing some grocery shopping when I got a very pleasant surprise. Charlie grabbed my hand and led me to the back yard where a beautiful, former fire breathing, friend of mine was waiting. Hagrid had brought him from Hogwarts while I had been sleeping after taking a dreamless sleep potion. I was so happy, I was squealing, jumping up and down, and smiling like crazy. I jumped into Charlie's arms and kissed him on the cheek before I ran over to my dragon.

"Charlie, I can't believe you did this! Thank you thank you thank you!" I said as he followed me. "You are probably the most amazing person on this planet...except for me of course," I said, kissing him on the cheek again.

We stayed out there for awhile, petting and playing with Kelly before heading back inside for supper. Molly was none too happy that there was a dragon in her back yard, but Charlie had the perfect story.

"Mediwitches and wizards have proven having a loved pet around helps keep patients calm. I'm not saying Anna is crazy because we all know she's not, but with everything she's been through, don't you think she needs as much help as she can get? As of now, as I'm sure you've noticed, I'm the only one that can keep her calm. She absolutely loves Kelly. When she was playing with him I noticed that she didn't even care if I was there or not. She was happy and calm. Do you really want to take that away from her? He can't breathe fire by the way." Ah, the all mighty guilt trip. Worked every time.

"Fine," Molly said, not really having much of an argument. I smiled, shot up from my seat and hugged her for the first time in a very long time. She burst into tears and wrapped her arms around me.

"Anything to make you feel better, Anna, even if I have to have a dragon in the back yard," she said as I pulled away.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

After supper, I was exhausted. The day had been fantastic and I was worn out. Playing with dragons was not as easy as it sounds, but fun none the less. Kelly liked to have us play the dragon version of jump rope which was basically us jumping over his tail as he swung it back and forth on the ground. I wasn't sure why, but he seemed to like it. He liked having the spot right behind his left ear scratched and reacted much like how a dog would. While most people would be terrified to even be in the same area as a dragon, we enjoyed being close to Kelly who was the only thing besides Charlie who could keep me calm. He hadn't been lying about that part.

I rested my head on Charlie's shoulder and yawned for the second time as I closed my eyes.

"Tired?" he asked, smiling at me. I nodded. "Time for bed then, Princess."

I smiled, I had always loved it when he called me Princess, especially when I was tired. I heard Molly talking to Arthur in kitchen saying how sweet it was that Charlie took care of me the way he did. They were quite sure he was doing more than necessary, which wasn't surprising. Arthur pointed out how Charlie and I had always taken care of each other so it was kind of expected.

Charlie set me down on the bed and grabbed me some pajamas- same as usual of course. Shorts too big for me and a baggy shirt to go with it. The difference from how it used to be was they weren't Fred and George's clothes anymore, they were strictly Charlie's, which was yet another thing that pissed the twins off. I was getting more than sick of their bullshit, but I refused to think about that when I went to bed. If I did I usually ended up having nightmares. Charlie turned around so I could change before I returned the favor. He always went to bed the same time I did, even if he wasn't tired.

"Tell me what you do at the reserve," I said as I curled up next to him. He grinned as he wrapped an arm around me.

"I'll tell you in the morning, you said you were tired."

"I am, but your voice keeps away the nightmares." He kissed the top of my head as I closed my eyes.

"How about I tell you a story instead." I nodded, not really caring what he talked about as long as he was talking. I fell asleep halfway through his horrible fairy tale which was a combination of stories I had told him when I was younger.

When I woke up, Charlie wasn't there and for the first time being alone...I didn't panic, I wasn't afraid. I took that as a very good sign. I bounced down the stairs, not bothering to get dressed and with a smile on my face.

"Good morning," I said as I plopped down in a chair next to Charlie.

"I'm sorry, I was just on my way back up," he said, not happy that he hadn't been there when I woke up.

"It's fine," I said, still smile. "There was no panicking or freaking out of any kind."

"That's great," he said as he pulled me into a one-armed hug.

A few weeks later, it was starting to matter less and less if Charlie was around and I even started sleeping in my own room again. I would play with Kelly for most of the day, Charlie usually joined me. I was sitting on Kelly's neck when I noticed a bump.

"Charlie, come here."

"Where did this come from?" I asked, pointing out the bump.

"That's where Kelly was bitten."

"Are you sure you got all the venom out? It's kind of squishy...like a zit."

He came over to investigate and agreed with me, then grinned at me.

"What's with the grin?"

"Oh, nothing. So, you wanna help me fix it?"

"Of course. What's the game plan? It's not going to pop like a zit so I'm assuming we're going to have to cut it open."

Two hours consisting of impromptu dragon handling gear, pus, venom, and just plain disgustingness later, Charlie closed up the incision, a big smile on his face.

"You are simply amazing!" He said as he swept me up into a hug. "I've been a dragon keeper for YEARS and even _I_ didn't spot that! Kelly will probably be able to breath fire after the wound is all healed up!"

"Yes, yes, I'm amazing," I said, chuckling as he set me down. I kissed his cheek as we headed back into the house after cleaning off the impromptu gear first, of course.

"Mum!" he shouted as soon as we walked in the door. "You won't BELIEVE what Anna just did!"

"It didn't have to do with that dragon of hers, would it?" Molly asked as she walked into the room.

"She might have fixed the issue with Kelly breathing fire! She noticed a bump that was filled with venom that all of the dragon keepers misses, _even me!_ We drained it and hopefully he'll be breathing fire within a week! She's a natural! Simply AMAZING!" He said, gushing over my small discovery.

"She kept Kelly calm enough that we didn't even have to knock him out or anything! He just let us work on him without even flinching! She's AMAZING!" He kissed my cheek, not noticing the twins walking into the room, earning him one hell of a glare. He rolled his eyes before retelling the tale. It was my turn to roll my eyes but I still couldn't keep a smile off my face.

"You look pretty pleased with yourself," Fred said as he looked at me.

"I am, actually," I said, using the same harsh tone he had used with me. "Are we seriously going to get into this mess again, Fred? This is just getting horribly repetitive! I can't talk to ANYONE with a fucking penis without you thinking I'm cheating on you!" I shouted. Molly didn't even bother to comment on my language.

"You're _always_ with Charlie or your dragon! You don't make any time for us anymore!"

"Are you serious? This again? Pathetic. I don't know if it's escaped your attention, but while I've been trying to heal and learn how to live again after what happened, you've been running off every day, and half the time you don't come back! What? You think I don't hear you sneaking in every morning? I am SO sick of this!"

"Good! Then the decision will pretty easy for you. Us or Charlie?"

"You're seriously giving me an ultimatum? How childish."

"Am I right to assume you're picking Charlie," Fred said, sounding relieved.

"Without a doubt. The three of us make great friends and the two of you are the best body pillows a girl could ask for, but dating was a bad idea. We're better off as friends, if you ever get over your crap."

"Oh thank Merlin," George said. "We were hoping you would say that. We were feeling the same way, well, about dating being a mistake."

"So, instead of saying something you just treated me like crap? That seems pretty stupid."

"Yeah but we're idiots."

"I've known that for a long time," I said, laughing.

"Friends?" the twins said at the same time.

"Friends. What's with all the sneaking around, by the way."

"We opened the store. Harry gave us the money he won during the Triwizard Tournament and bought a place for our store! We used our share of what we made at Hogwarts to start stocking it! We were going to show it to you on your birthday. You know, you're still welcome to be 1/3 owner."

"That's great guys! I'm really happy for you, you'll do great," I told them honestly.

"What about you? Aren't you going to join in?"

"No, but thanks for the offer. I've kind of grown out of that stage of my life, but I might take you up on the offer later on." I kissed them each on the cheek before I headed upstairs to my room. I was proud of myself. I stood up for myself, made my own serious decision, _and_ didn't need Charlie to protect me. I wasn't freaking out even after all of it. I was okay.

A week after that, I talked to Charlie, letting him know he didn't have to stay anymore. I had Kelly and I was okay without him and I had kept him away from work long enough.

"Are you sure? I mean, I can stay longer," he said, almost sounding as if he was reluctant to leave.

"I'm sure, Charlie. You miss your dragons, you talk about Shirley the Hungarian Horn tail in your sleep," I said, chuckling. He blushed at that, not knowing that I had heard him. "Besides, if I really need you, Bill might have hooked me up with a reusable, untraceable, port key that'll take me right to the reserve."

"You sneaky little monkey," he said, giving me a hug.  
"Oh! Wanna go for a ride?" I asked. He looked confused. "You'll see." I dragged him out to the backyard and over to Kelly.

"Wanna go flying for a bit, Kelly?" I asked my dragon. He nodded and stood up before letting me use his neck as a makeshift ladder to get on his back.

"Are you serious?" Charlie asked. " _This_ is what you've been doing in your spare time?"

"Of course," I said. "now get on!" He climbed up behind me and grabbed my waist, clinging to me for dear life as Kelly took off.

"You act like you've never ridden a dragon before," I said, smirking.

"Not on purpose!"

I laughed as he squeezed harder when Kelly went higher, above the clouds.

"Why, Mr. Weasley, are you afraid of heights?"

"No, I just don't feel like dying!"

"And yet you're a dragon keeper. That screams suicidal right there."

Awhile later, Kelly landed and let us use her wings as a slide to get down. I smiled at him and scratched behind his left ear before heading back inside.

"How was that for a going away present?"

"You are freaking amazing."

"Tell me something I don't know?" I laughed as we walked back to the house.

As planned, a week later, Charlie said his goodbyes and flooed back to Romania. We were all sad to see him go, especially me. After being with him most of the time, it was going to be rough with him not being around. I cried the first, second, and third night but after that I was okay. I started working with Fred and George though I still refused to be partial owner. Stocking shelves, cashiering, and fixing the occasional potion wasn't so bad, it kept my mind off of things. After work, I played with Kelly who had refused to go with Charlie, hence the reason he flooed instead of having Hagrid help transport him back to Romania. Kelly was truly my dragon. On rough nights, we'd fly around and I had started using my broom so we could race.

Charlie came home for Christmas with a woman by his side. Apparently they had been dating for awhile, which meant the whole two months he was gone, and he wanted her to meet the family. She looked less than impressed. I rolled my eyes, just another bimbo after his money and I was less than impressed with her. She was snappy and rude with everyone, not that Charlie noticed. He was too wrapped up in her to notice her crappy attitude. I didn't like her and once she saw how close I was to Charlie, she didn't like me either. I listened to Charlie talk about how much she loves dragons and how she's just perfect. I had a feeling she had been feeding him spoonfuls of bullshit and decided to do a test of my own.

"Rose, let's go outside, I want to show you something Charlie gave me last year." She reluctantly followed, I grinned as I led her over to where Kelly was.

"This is Kelly!" I said as I walked over to him. I scratched behind his left ear. "Since you like dragons so much, I figured you'd like to meet him."

She looked positively terrified and Kelly didn't seem to fond of her.

"Come on over and say hi! He won't bite, I promise."

"N...no that's okay...I'm just going to go back inside," she said, rushing back to the house.

"So she likes dragons, eh, Kelly? Think she's lying? I sure as hell think so. She comes off as a money grubbing bitch to me, what do you think?"

It seemed like Molly and I were the only ones who realized what a piece of work Rose was. We constantly were rolling our eyes or shaking our heads at each other, not buying a bit of the stories coming out of her mouth. Charlie seemed completely clueless which made it more annoying. As much as I wanted to say something, I know I couldn't. He was happy and he deserved to be.

Rose seemed to notice my skepticism of her intentions with Charlie and ended up stopping us from talking whenever she could. She and Charlie left early since apparently her and Charlie had a special night of their own going on at a nice hotel. They didn't even stay to open presents and I went to bed early. Molly had helped me make a present for him and now I wasn't going to get to see him open it. It was certainly one of a kind and something I was very proud of. Even if he opened it, his girlfriend would probably never let him have it. They didn't stop by for new years' either, they went back to Romania without so much as a goodbye or see you later.

*****Molly's P.O.V

A month later, Charlie appeared through the fireplace drunk as a skunk and barely able to stand. I was the first to see him and helped him up and into the living room. He refused to tell me, his own mother, anything about why he was in such a state, he just kept saying he needed to talk to Anna. I nodded and grabbed the half empty bottle out of his hand before I broke the news.

"Anna's at work, Charlie. You'll have to wait until she gets home." He shook his head and flooed to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes before I could stop him.

I was working on a potion in the back room of the store when I heard an oof coming from the fireplace behind me. I quickly turned around and saw a soot covered, very drunk, Charlie Weasley.

"What the hell happened to you, Charlie?" I said as I walked over to him.

"Rose broke up with me," he mumbled.

"Come on, let's get you back to the burrow, then you can tell me all about it. Let me tell the twins I'm taking off and then we can go, alright?" He nodded.

"Hey, Fred!"

"Yeah?"

"I'm taking off for the day!"

"Isn't it a bit early?"

"You're not my boss, deary. I just volunteer here," I said, it was one of our on going jokes.

"Alright. Will you be in tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure. It kind of depends on how things pan out tonight, see ya!"

I flooed Charlie and I back to the burrow where he collapsed and brought me to the floor with him. He set his head in my lap and started crying.

"So what happened, Charlie?"

"She was wanting to get all serious, like getting married serious, and when I said I wasn't ready for that she got pissed."

"And then?"

"She said I could at least move in with her, but he wouldn't have someone that smells like dragons living with her so I'd have to quit my job."

"I never liked her, and now I have an even better reason," I told him.

"I don't wanna quit my job, Anna!"

"No one is making you, Charlie," I played with his hair as he cried silently.

"I love her, Anna...I really thought she'd be the one..."

"Obviously she's not. She wanted to push you into something you're not ready for _and_ tried to get you to quit your job." I was starting to get really pissed off. Charlie wasn't even this hurt the three times he and that Amber girl had broken up.

"But, I love her.."

"She doesn't deserve you, Charlie. She doesn't deserve someone as good as you," I said, kissing his cheek. I played with his hair until he fell asleep, then kissed the top of his head. I called for Molly, knowing he wouldn't wake up and she wouldn't have gone to sleep yet. She helped me levitate him to his room where I took of his shoes and socks before tucking him in. I went to leave, but he grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go. I grinned.

"Alright, I won't leave, just let me change into some pajamas, okay?" He nodded. I quickly changed before laying in bed next to him. He curled up next to me, his head on my chest before falling back to sleep and throwing an arm around my waist.

I had a bone to pick with Rose, and she wasn't going to like what I had planned for her. She had an ass kicking coming to her and it was one she wouldn't forget.

" _No one hurts my Charlie and gets away with it,_ " I thought before closing my eyes. He woke up an hour or two later apologizing for drooling on me.

"Don't worry about it, Charlie. How many times have I fallen asleep and drooled on you?" He chuckled.

"Sorry for just dropping in here and your job out of the blue earlier.."

"Don't worry about it, Charlie. Seriously, stop apologizing." He nodded. "Want to talk more now that you're sober?"

"You don't have to listen to me, you know."

"Yes I do."

"You sure?"

"Yep. Start talking, Mister."

"It started when we left here on Christmas. She was complaining about having to be around my family and that she wasn't comfortable so we left early. She wouldn't let me come over for New Years' either. That hotel she had been talking about cost me a small fortune. When we got back to Romania, I crashed at her place for a couple of days, the whole time she was saying stuff like we needed to shower because we had been around the filth of poor people. I got pissed and left, obviously. The next day she came to hunt me down and the reserve to 'apologize' and ended up stepping in a pile of dragon dung in the expensive shoes I had bought her for Christmas. She threw a fit and that's when she started talking about me quitting my job. I told her I'd think about it, 'cause I love her and all that crap, then she started in on me moving in with her. When I did she started pushing marriage and quitting my job even more saying she couldn't stand the smell of me after spending a day around dragons and after we got married I could quit. She told me she loved dragons, Anna, that she loved what I do...she lied! She's the opposite of what I thought she was."

"Kelly doesn't like her," I told him.

"Dragons are kind of like dogs that way. They can sense people's vibes or whatever that's called. I should have known better than to be with her at all when Shirley wouldn't let her get even close to her."

"We all make mistakes, Char. Just promise me this isn't going to be like the Amber thing?"

"There's not even a chance I'll go back to Rose. I will need help getting all my stuff back to the reserve, though. Would you help?"

"Have I ever said no to you?"

"A few times, but not very often."

"Let's go tomorrow so I can calm my rage. If I don't I'll likely kill her."

"Yeah, you would, wouldn't you."

"Without a doubt."

We spent the rest of the day and night with Kelly with him telling me all about his dragons at the reserve.

"You better show me around once we're done rescuing your stuff. You can't tell me all about Shirley and not introduce me. That's just plain mean."

"Do you really think I'd let you leave without getting a grand tour? After all you might be working with me eventually."

When we went to bed, he seemed to be in a much better mood which made me happy. I didn't like seeing Charlie upset, I never had. I slept next to him again, just because I felt like it. The next day was going to be fun and someone was getting their ass kicked.

"Oh, hey," I said, getting back out of bed. "you never got to open your present from me." I walked to my room and grabbed the box that had been sitting under my bed. When I walked back into his room, I handed him the box then waited impatiently for him to open it.

"This is...awesome..."he said as he held up the shirt. "Mum help you make it?"

"Yeah, a bit. There's some cool stuff though, it's not just a sweater." I took my wand and touched it to the sleeve which made the sleeves shorten into a t-shirt. "That's not all!" I tapped the C in the middle and it began to move.

"Is that..."  
"A dragon? Yes."

"And you.."

"Made it. Yep."

"This is amazing! How did you figure out how to do it?"

"Lots of research and just being awesome."

He wrapped me into a tight hug and kissed my forehead.

"Molly doesn't know what it can do though. As far as she knows it's just a normal sweater."

"Am I supposed leave it that way?"

"I'd appreciate it," I said, kissing his cheek. "I don't want to be stuck making them for all the Weasleys."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: What a Bitch**

 **A/N: So, tanzar81 pointed out that it's illegal to have a dragon as a pet. It is, but I won't tell if you don't.**

 **Later on in the story there is mention of a bar named the Char Bar. The Char Bar is an actual bar in my hometown, I'm just borrowing its name because it seems appropriate.**

 **Don't own anything!**

The next day, as planned, we flooed to the reserve in Romania before heading over to Rose's house. Of course, we tried to aim for a time where Rose was supposed to work since that just seemed to be the best idea. But low and behold, it was her day off. She was throwing Charlie's stuff out the window and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, that's my stuff she's throwing," he said, grinning at me.

"You have to admit it's funny though, how dramatic can you get. What did you see in her?"

"She has a.." I interrupted him.

"If the next words coming out of your mouth were 'nice rack' I will slap you."

"Well, she does." I smacked him upside the head.

"YOU!" Rose screamed, finally noticing us.

"HIM!" I yelled, matching her volume.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

"God damn it, woman! Stop your god forsaken screaming! You sound like a damn banshee! Obviously we're here for to get his stuff. You've saved a lot of time by putting it on the lawn though, so thanks."

"How could you choose those stinky dragons over me! They're gross!" I chuckled.

"Better a stinky dragon than a stupid bitch," I mumbled.

"What did you say?" She asked me.

"I said that a stinky dragon is better than a stupid bitch and I'm looking at one!"

"You're such...a..."

"An awesome person? The closest thing to human perfection? I know, but thanks for reminding me."

Charlie chuckled as he started gathering his stuff.

"Charlie, you piece of shit! How could you do this to me!?"

"What did I do what exactly?" he asked, looking up at her. "Choose a job I love over a person who was set on changing me completely!"

"Admit it! You were cheating on me! WITH HER!" She said, pointing at me. I rolled my eyes, really sick of the cheating thing. I walked into the house, up to the room she was in and punched her in the face.

"Will you shut up, now?"

"You bitch! You broke my nose?"

"I did, oh poor baby, let me see." She looked up. "Not broken." I punched her a second time. "It is now, though."

Meanwhile, Charlie was bent over laughing himself to tears.

"It's not funny Charlie! I hurt my hand," I yelled down at him. I headed back downstairs leaving Rose upstairs to cry and bleed.

"Alright, let's get this done."

Charlie being a guy and had previously lived in small hut didn't have much to gather up. It didn't even take two hours before we had everything packed up and thrown in his guest room. I plopped down on his couch when we were done, smile on my face.

"I believe, dear sir, that you owe me the grand tour. I only saw the hatchlings when I was here and that was a LONG time ago."

"I suppose I could." He pulled me up off the couch and outside. "Let me introduce you to a couple people first...okay...more like a little mini-reunion."

"Dave and John!?" I said, happy to see them as soon as I opened the door.

"ANNA!" They said, trying to hug me at the same time.

"One at a time, one at a time!" I said before hugging each of them.

"You've grown up so much since we last saw you!" David told me.

"You've gotten a bit grayer." I smiled at him before he hugged me again.

"Still the little smart ass you were back then."

"Yeah, but now I have a wider vocabulary. Charlie was going to give me the grand tour since last time I was only allowed to see the babies last time."

"You were just a baby then!"

"I was not," I said, chuckling. "Now, Charlie told me all about his Hungarian Horntail named Shirley."

"Would you like to meet her?" John asked.

"Why else would I have brought her up?"

"Charlie told me what you did for Kelly, I'm impressed," John said (he was Charlie's age).

"Oh, so Charlie's been talking about me, huh? What else has he been saying?"

"Only that you're absolutely beautiful."

"Awe, Charlie, that's so sweet!"

"Oh, shut it," he said, the famous Weasley blush appearing on his face.

"He also said you were single."

"That I am, Johnnie, but are you seriously going to start hitting on me five minutes after seeing me for the first time in years?"

"Absolutely." I chuckled while Charlie pulled me closer and glared at John. David did nothing, but I had a feeling he was observing Charlie's protectiveness of me.

A few hours later, we returned to Charlie's home, the reserve was even more amazing than the last time I was there.

"Wait until you see the new set up we have for the babies," Charlie said, obviously excited to show me around.

"I'm sure it's amazing, and I'm sure I'll have a better idea," I said, chuckling. "You men aren't very good at organizing, even when it comes to animals."

"Oh, ha ha," Charlie said. "I'll have you know it was Ang, Sarah, and Jennie that put it together. If you have a complaint about it, talk to them."

When we arrived at the hatchling facilities, separated by age, sickness, injured and healthy hatchlings.

"Ang, Sarah, and Jenny have done a great job," I said as I walked over to a baby Norwegian Ridgeback.

"Anna, stay back," John warned me. "You could get hurt."

"I know," I said as I slowly stepped forward. "Hello little guy." He walked over to me, took a couple of sniffs and laid back down.

"Oh, you're such a pretty little boy, aren't you?" I said as I scratched behind his left ear. He reacted much like Kelly. I seemed to have forgotten everyone else was there until I heard Charlie cough to get my attention.

"What?"

"You do realize you've been playing with him for almost an hour, right?"

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Time flies when you're baby talking to a baby dragon." I grinned at my merry band of idiots, as I liked to call them, before John helped me off the ground. We turned to walk away, but our baby dragon didn't like that idea.

"Sorry, Sam, the lady has to come with us," Charlie told him. "She'll be back tomorrow though."

"I will?!" I said, smiling from ear to ear.

"I figured you'd be crashing at my place tonight, we can come back here before you go back to the burrow."

"Okay." I was still smiling, but I was trying to keep the inner little screaming fan girl at bay. We walked slowly back to Charlie's hut and settled in the living room. Dave immediately attacked the fridge, retrieving a beer for each of us.

"You seem to love it here as much as the rest of us," Dave pointed out as he sat by Johnnie on the couch.

"Of course, I do."

"You know, your back up plan if you decided not to go into business with my brothers was to come work here," Charlie pointed out.

"Have you gone into business with his brothers?"

"No, but..."

"No buts. You should come work here, the boss will hire you on the spot, even without training.

"I'll think about it."

"That's a woman's way of saying no."

"No, I mean it, I will _actually_ think about it."

I ended up staying for a few more days(I was glad for Charlie's transfiguration skills, I didn't have to wear the same clothes every day.) and absolutely fell in love with the place, especially my new little buddy Sam. As much as I wanted to stay, I knew I couldn't. I had too much back home to do.

"So, are you staying?" Charlie asked me the morning I was supposed to leave.

"No, Charlie. I've got too much to do back home. I'd really love to, but I can't.

"What do you have to do back home?"

"I've got Kelly to take care of, Molly needs an extra hand around the house, and I'm the only one that's keeping the twins' store from exploding. I can't just up and leave."

"About Kelly...you know Rose is a vindictive bitch, right?"

"I kind of figured that out when she was throwing your stuff out the window."

"It's illegal to have a pet dragon. Rose knows about Kelly and that's probably not a good thing."

"Crap, you're right. I guess you, Johnnie and David will have to come get him." I sighed, I wouldn't have Kelly to keep me sane anymore.

When I got back to the burrow, Molly was there serving a hot meal for Ron, Ginny, Arthur, and had two extra spots set up. I assumed one was for me and the other for Charlie.

"Welcome home, Anna," she said, smiling at me.

"Thanks, Molly." I went upstairs to wash up then came back down for dinner.

"So, how did it go with Rose?"

"Well, she was throwing all of Charlie's stuff out the window, I broke her nose, then Charlie took me back to the reserve where I got to see Johnnie and Dave again. I got a grand tour and even got to play with the hatchlings. Oh...they're going to have to come get Kelly...they're worried Rose might report us having one."

For the next couple of weeks, I threw myself into working at the store, trying to keep my mind off of everything. Despite having fun working with Fred and George, I couldn't help but wish I was somewhere else. I was able to hide my semi-miserableness fairly well until I let my mask slip.

"Annabelle, what's wrong? You haven't been yourself or happy lately. What's going on?"

"Nothing, Molly. I'm fine, really. I just miss Kelly is all."

"You've been working to hard, you should have a girls' night. Lord knows you could use one."

I gave in and the following Saturday found Ginny, Granger, and I sitting at the Three Broomsticks enjoying a few drinks.

"So, how have you been doing?" Granger asked, attempting to make small talk.

"Okay, I suppose. I'm not dead," I told her, a chuckle at the end. "You?"

"Well...we really haven't wanted to say anything...but Ronald and I are dating!"

"Told you you'd snag a Weasley. What about you, Ginny. Any interesting news?"

"Nothing that exciting, just that I've been offered a position as seeker for the Harpies as soon as I graduate!"

"That's awesome Ginny, congrats!"

"What about you, anything exciting?" the ginger girl asked.

"Well...Charlie, Johnnie, and Dave put in a good word with their boss...if I want to...I have a guaranteed job over in Romania."

"That's AMAZING! We all know how much you like dragons. What the hell are you doing here, then?"

"I can't..."

"Why not?"

"I..."

"See, no good reason." I opened my mouth to say something, but eye contact was made between myself and the man I hated more than anything and anyone on earth. I had read in an edition of the Daily Prophet that he had gotten 2 years in Azkaban and life on parole. He got off way too easily, but nonetheless, there he stood, not ten feet in front of me. Ginny and Granger paused, I assumed they were worried I was going to do something stupid like beat the crap out of him. Part of me wanted to really, really, badly, but the majority was saying that I was done with all of this. I nodded at him then continued my girls' night.

The next morning, I woke up with a hangover, but had made my decision as well. Seeing Lee had made me realize that I was over what happened with him and I. It was time to start another part of my life where I wasn't held back by my past. I smiled as I got out of bed and quickly dressed. I could smell bacon, the perfect hangover cure for me.

"What's got you so cheerful?" Ginny asked, smiling at me.

"I'm moving," I said simply.

"Oh, where too?" Molly asked me.

"Romania, of course."

"We had the guest room cleaned out the day after you left. We knew you'd be coming back!" David said as we unloaded my belongings into my new room. I shook my head and laughed.

"Wait, does Charlie know you're here?" Johnnie asked from the doorway.

"Nope. Kind of a surprise. If he has a girlfriend though or a fuck buddy, I will be punching them in the face and throwing them out of the house."

"Jealousy?"

"No, Charlie just has horrible taste in women. The last two semi-serious relationships he's had have fallen to pieces. When I asked what he saw in them his answer is always she had a nice rack."

"Sounds like Charlie," Dave said, chuckling.

"Where's he at, anyway?"

"I think he's working with the Norwegian Ridgebacks. We're actually supposed to be out there helping."

"Then go help," I told the both of them.

"You know, we could use and extra hand."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Absolutely."

"Well, let's go."

"ANNA!" I heard Charlie yell as he saw me walking up with the guys after shutting the gate to the dragons' pen.

"Surprise!"

"We'd like to introduce you to your new roommate," David said as everyone's favorite red head ran over to us.

"Seriously?!"

"Yep." He swept me up into a big hug and swung me around in circles.

"So, what made you decide to come back?" Johnnie asked.

"I saw Lee." That seemed to be the only thing that needed to be said.

"Lee, who's Lee?" Johnnie asked.

"Not important," I told him, wanting to steer the conversation in another direction. "Anyway, I say a celebration is due."

"I completely agree," Charlie said picking me up bridal style as we headed to his place. "Just let me change out of these clothes and we can head out."

"Go where, exactly, and you can put me down, Charlie. I'm capable of walking, you know."

"Nope, you might run off again."

"I didn't _run off_ , I was just taking time to think about what I really wanted. Now that I'm back, you'll have a hard time getting rid of me." I kissed his cheek.

"Hey, if he get's sick of you, my place is only three huts down,"Johnnie said, pointing to the left.

"Charlie, I believe you said something similar to the twins before you left, and look what happened there. I ended up running off to another country with their older brother."

"What, you're going after Bill, now?"

"Well, he is the best looking out of all of you Weasley boys..."

"I don't think Fleur would appreciate it."

"Oh, I think she would. You should see how much she hits on me when she's drunk...it could end up being a pretty interesting night..."

"You wouldn't!" Charlie said, not sounding too happy.

"No, I wouldn't. Two Weasleys is enough, I don't need to have a drunken night of insanity again."

"You said you never...with the twins."

"That was when the twins and I were _dating._ Anyhow, this conversation was meant for another time since Johnnie seems to be fantasizing over something that won't happen...ever."

The conversation had stopped Charlie in his tracks and he was still looking at me oddly.

"Seriously, Charlie. It was awhile ago, no big deal."

"No...no big deal?" I rolled my eyes.

"Charlie, I'm about ready to just leave you behind and go celebrate with Johnnie and Dave. Kill joy."

"I'm not a kill joy...I was just shocked," he said as he started walking again.

An hour later, we were down at a place called The Char Bar. Another two hours later, we were all unbelievably drunk, drunk enough for the bar to get Rob and Ang (who I was later introduced to) to come rescue us.

"Hello, Rob," Johnnie slurred. "Have you met Anna yet?"

"No, heard all about her though. I take it the lovely woman being clung to by Charlie who also happens to be glaring at every guy that even glances at her is Anna?"

"Yep. He's awfully pro...pro...what's the word I'm lookin' for?"

"Protective. And yes, certainly looks like he is. How many dirty looks have you gotten tonight, Johnnie? For the whole five minutes we've been here all you've been doing is staring at her tits, no offense Anna."

"None...none taken," I said before I passed out on Charlie's shoulder.

When I woke up, I discovered Charlie and I hadn't even made it our separate rooms before passing out on the floor. I sat up, but immediately regretted it. I barely made it to the bathroom before the contents of my stomach were emptied into the toilet.

"I'm never drinking again..."

"You said that last time," I heard Charlie say from the living room. Before I could say anything, a hangover potion was in front of me.

"Ugh, Charlie, you know those make me sick," I said, not bothering to open my eyes.

"Wrong man," Rob said, chuckling.

"Oh, well, doesn't matter who you are, but hangover potions make me sick."

"It's true," Charlie said, sounding much more chipper than he had before. "'bout the only things that work are sleeping it off or bacon."

"How do you know this, young man? Have you been getting her drunk?"

"He was the first person to ever get me drunk! Plus I've known him since I was what..."

"Uh...7 I think," he finished for me.

"Charlie, corrupting the poor girl, shame on you."

"Oh please, she'd been hanging out with the twins for years, she was already corrupted. Plus it was her first Christmas after her parents died! No..that was when I brought her here...no I got her drunk on her 13th birthday."

"Ugh, shut up, Charlie," I said before Rob helped me of the floor.

"Well, now that you're somewhat alive, I can introduce myself. I'm Rob."

"Hi. Sorry, not trying to be rude...it's just way too bright in here." He chuckled.

"I'm Angela, but call me Ang," the woman in the living room said, smiling at me.

"Hullo...bacon..I need bacon...Charlie, please tell me you have bacon..."

"I'm a Weasley, of course I have bacon."

Later on that morning, I was introduced to their boss Jeremy. I was given a job on the spot, but I had to go through some training with Dave since I'd be working with the babies. Sarah and Ang seemed pretty happy to have another set of hands, and were quick to welcome me into the fold. The set up was great, I had no complaints.

"So, for right now, we'll just have you working with Sam and a few of the others around his age. I was told you were pretty good with him the last time you were here," Ang said as she led me to the correct tent. Dave had been distracted by a baby hatching and had her start on the ins and outs of what I was supposed to do.

By the end of the week, I had surpassed all the necessary training and was working with the younger hatchlings unsupervised within a month.I loved my job and was glad I had made the decision to move to Romania. The only downfall was Charlie's new 'girlfriend.' She was stupid, annoying, giggled to much and was just annoying in general. I wanted to punch her in the face every time I saw her and had to frequently had to remind Charlie that there is a thing called a Silencing Charm. He had met her down at the Char and had brought her home that night. I had started to stay over and Johnnie's place to escape from the sounds emanating from the bedroom across from mine.

"Ugh, she's so ANNOYING!" I said, plopping down on his couch without knocking.

"Rachel?"

"What does he see in her, anyway!? Sarah has been trying to get with him for ages now, at least she's got a brain between her ears!"

"I take it you're crashing here?" He asked, grinning at me as he sat down, having me use his lap as a pillow.

"If you don't mind. Some sleep would be amazing, Merlin knows I wouldn't get any sleep at home. Ugh, she's one of those girls that's just going to break Charlie's heart and I'll have to pick up the pieces like I always do."

"Do you want the couch or the bed?" He asked, used to my rambling by then.

"Up to you, this is your place after all."

"Really? You don't even knock anymore," he said, laughing.

"Shut up."

"Why don't we just share the bed? I promise I'll behave. We both know that couch is horrible to sleep on."

"Yeah, just keep your hands to yourself," I yawned as I walked followed him to his room, taking the shirt and shorts he offered me as pajamas. I changed in the bathroom then plopped down on the left side of the bed.

When we woke up the next morning, he was spooning me, wrapped around me as closely as he could get. I chuckled and wiggled my way out of his grasp- nature called. As I walked out of the room, there was a knock at the door. I answered it, still half asleep.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Charlie half asked, half yelled.

"Sleeping. You and _Rachel_ were making way too much noise so I came down here. Wait, why do I have to explain myself?" I slammed the door in his face and headed towards the bathroom leaving Johnnie to deal with the issue. The argument had woken him up so he came out to see what the hell was going on.

"Who was that yelling?"

"Charlie," I answered through the bathroom door.

"What'd he want?"

"I don't know. He just started yelling at me. He's probably still standing out there." I washed my hands and walked out of the room. Sure enough, Charlie was standing in the living room yelling at Johnnie for letting me stay there.

"Woah, woah, woah, back it up, buddy," I said. "Why exactly are you pissed off?"

"You spent the night here! In his bed!"

"So? I'm a big girl, Charlie. I can make my own decisions. Go back to Rachel, or whatever her name is." He glared at me, then walked out.

"Son of a bitch," I muttered to myself.. "I have to go back there and get ready for work. Ugh. I'll see you later, Johnnie."

I made the dreaded journey home, not bothering to change into my clothes. When I walked through the front door, Charlie had Rachel pushed up against the kitchen counter. I just rolled my eyes and walked to my room to grab my clothes. After a shower, I made a light breakfast working around the couple molesting each other. I rolled my eyes again.

"If either of you want breakfast, tell me now."

"Bacon," Charlie said, taking a moment to separate his lips from her neck.

"Good for you, make it yourself."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: The Truth comes Out!**

 **A/n: Thanks to everyone who has supported this story, whether it's been by review, following, pm's, however you've been supporting, thanks much! It's the reason I've been able to pop out chapters as quickly, and not just tiny ones either!**

 **As usual, I don't anything other than my O/C's.**

A month later we had a new trainee come in, he was cocky as hell and extremely annoying. His name was Mike and he was a waste of space. As soon as he got to the hatchling departments, he started in on how he thinks women have no place working with dragons. I ignored him and showed him around, introduced him to everyone, then brought him over to work with me for awhile. The w hole time I was trying to teach him how everything was organized, he was telling me repeatedly that I had no business working there, had no idea what I was doing and should just let the men do their work. I rolled my eyes, used to the new guys saying that, even some of the more seasoned keepers still believed it.

"Okay, since you're so god damn smart, why don't you come over here and take care of the babies. They need a health check, they just got over a pretty nasty cold." I walked away and began checking the eggs we were concerned about, none were hatching yet.

"Done," I heard Mike call from where I had left them.

"Alright, how are they?" I looked around and didn't see them anywhere. "Exactly where did you put them?"

"Over there," he said, pointing to one of the areas sectioned off for the sick babies.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT! THOSE ARE THE SICK ONES! ARE YOU NOT ABLE TO READ?! IT SAYS RIGHT ON THE FUCKING DOOR. CAUTION: SICK AND POSSIBLE CONTAGIOUS DRAGONS! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" I pushed passed him and got the healthy ones out as soon as I could, then put them in a separate area to be examined.

"WHO'S IDEA WAS IT TO LET YOU WORK HERE? I WILL PUNCH THE BASTARD IN THE FACE MYSELF, I'LL START WITH YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

Before I could carry through my threat, I felt arms holding me back.

"Calm down, Anna," Dave said from behind me. "What did he do?"

"He put the babies I had been nursing back to health back in with the sick ones," I said, still pissed off. "He could have just gotten them sick again! They're just babies! That be sick like that!"

"I know, Anna. Calm down."

"It's her fault, she didn't tell me what to do," Mike said, trying to pin it all on me.

"Oh no, you're not getting off that easy. Anna told you exactly what to do and it is CLEARLY labeled correctly. How about you tell the truth this time?"

"Women shouldn't be working with dragons anyway! She's not my boss!"

"She may not be your boss, but she is the best worker we've had in this area in a great many years, and she's only had half the training you've had," Sarah said, coming to the rescue. "That's the difference between reading the books and actually working with the dragons. You little fuckers come in here acting like you know everything when you don't know SHIT! You may have gotten these dragons KILLED because you're such a fucking idiot! Dave, there's gotta be somewhere else for him to work. Anna will kill him."

At that point, Dave had slackened his hold and I rushed over to the babies Mike might have gotten sick again. I baby-talked to them as usual as I ran the correct diagnostic spells. All good. I sighed in relief then looked at Mike.

"If even ONE of these babies even SNEEZES, I will hunt you down and kill you."

"Aren't you a little protective?"

"She's a bit like a nesting dragon, really," Ang says. "Probably why she's the best. We usually try to keep newbies away from her until they're trained properly, but Dave's going on vacation, and Jeremy thought she needed an extra pair of hands."

"She wouldn't actually kill me, would she?"

"Not sure, no one has been stupid enough to do what you just did. You you should be fine unless it's that time of the month."

"I can hear you, you know!" I said as I walked back over to the group, much calmer. "No, I will not kill you, but I will have you removed from this area. Maybe you'd be better off working with older ones. Go talk to Jeremy, he'll probably send you over to Charlie Weasley."

Mike was led away from us by Dave who put Sarah in charge and told me to go take my lunch break.

"Really Dave? This just happens and you want me to leave until everything's sorted out, not cool, Dave, not cool," I had learned not to argue with him, he was just as hard headed as I was.

A couple hours later, Johnnie came over to get me for something. He looked pretty panicked, which was highly unusual for him. One of the Hungarian Horntails just brought in from Denmark had gone crazy. He had a massive tear in his wing and a broken leg, but wouldn't let anyone close enough to do anything. Ropes weren't holding him, neither were stunners.

"You're the only one who's been able to get close to these crazy animals, we thought you could give it a try."

"I'll give it my best shot," I said as I Johnnie and I ran. "Shit, he's huge!" I said as I looked up at the very angry horntail. "Distract it!" I before I started getting closer.

"We've tried that!" Charlie yelled at me.

"Fine!" I tried doing things my way – talking calmly to help the beast realize there's no danger and they're safe. Then I would go in and heal the injuries. I was able to get close enough to heal the leg, but as soon as I tried to get to the wing, I felt an intense pain across my back and side.

"ANNA!" Rob and Charlie yelled. The two of them plus a few new additions managed to stun the dragon as the two of them rushed over to me. Charlie checked me over and no one was happy with the results. I had been scratched deeply across my thigh and had severe burns on my back. They took me to the healers' tent but as soon as I saw Rachel was the new healer, I refused.

"Hell fucking no! That bitch is not touching me! Rob, you're fairly decent at taking care of shit like this right?"

"Nothing this severe, but I've done my fair share of scratches."

Johnnie and Rob helped me to the hut Charlie and I shared and onto my bed. Ang started cutting off the clothes that would get in the way while Sarah stole some burn salve. Rob healed the deep scratches on my thigh.

"I'm not perfect at this, it's going to scar. If you would have gone to Rachel like you should have, you wouldn't be able to tell anything happened in the first place!"

"Yeah...no," I said. "I can't stand her and I sure as hell don't trust her."

"I'm better at healing burns than he is, I'll take over," Ang said as she knelt in front of the bed. "Honey, this is going to hurt like hell."

She was telling the truth, as soon as she started cleaning the burn from any sort of contaminate, I screamed bloody murder.

"Why the fuck didn't you let me take a god damn pain potion first!"

"Because I forgot to grab some," Sarah said sheepishly.

"If you want to live through the night, you better go get some!"

The pain subsided a bit as the burn salve was applied, but I still couldn't move. Sarah and Ang helped me into some loose pajamas and helped me get situated on the bed. Charlie walked into the room right after Sarah who quickly handed me on of the potions.

"How are you?" he asked me.

"Half of her back is scorched, she has scars on her right thigh, and she's in large amounts of pain," Ang said as she had me take a sleeping potion.

"I asked, her, not you, Ang."

"Fuck off, Charlie," was the last thing I said before falling asleep.

When I woke up, my shirt was clinging to the burn ointment and every movement pulled on the fabric. Peeling fabric from a burn hurts...really bad. It took all I had not to scream as I tried to sit up. Sarah and Ang rushed in to help.

"Stop it, you keep wiggling around trying to do stuff yourself, you're not going to heal right!" Ang lectured. I nodded, not really wanting to give in. I didn't like help, especially when it came to taking care of myself.

"So, you were pretty rude to Charlie, last night. What's up with that?"

"Oh, his bitch of a girlfriend is constantly insulting me when she's here. Charlie doesn't say a damn thing and gets pissed at me if I stick up for myself. She constantly clings on him, constantly baby-talks to him, which he HATES by the way. The sex must be great for him to deal with that bullshit. Last time I stood up for myself, Charlie said that if I couldn't deal with their relationship I could just move out. As soon as there's a place open, I'm getting the hell out of here."

"You're seriously going to leave?" I heard him say quietly from his spot just inside the room.

"Yeah."

"Oh." He didn't sound very happy about it, but he could kiss my ass.

A few days later, we found out Mike had quit so I was able to move. With much help from Rob, Johnnie, Dave, Sarah, and Ang all of my stuff to his hut. I was still sore, the burns weren't healing very well at all and I was having a hard time getting around. As soon as everything was unpacked, I threw myself into work. I took over watching the eggs and freshly hatched dragons instead of working with the bigger ones. I knew I shouldn't be working, but I kept at it anyway. Charlie tried talking to me from time to time, but I completely ignored him.

After a particularly hard shift where my burn got scratched by a newborn, Dave helped me back to my hut.

"Thanks, but I could have made it myself," I told him as I sat on the couch very, very slowly.

"You should let someone take a look at that fresh wound."

"I'll have Ang or Sarah do it. They're supposed to be coming over later on."

"You should go see the healer."

"NO!"

"You're just as stubborn as him," he mumbled before walking out and shutting the door behind him. I stood and headed to the bathroom where I lifted up my shirt to see the damage.

"Fuck." The scratch had completely torn opened what had healed.

"That looks horrible," Sarah said from behind me. I would have jumped, but I was used to it.

"I know. Is Ang here yet?"

"Yeah, she's bringing the fire whiskey."

"Good, I could use a drink."

It wasn't too much later when I was drunk off my ass.

"You know what my problem is?" I slurred.

"I can probably guess," Sarah said, almost as drunk as me. Ang was the only one even remotely sober.

"My problem is Charlie."

"What'd he do now?"

"He hasn't dumped that stupid bitch. You know, it should be ME with him, not her, right? At least I have a brain between my ears...it's kind of fuzzy right now, but it's there!"

"That's what I thought!" Ang said. "That was the problem all along, wasn't it?"  
"So, what do you plan on doing about it?"

"Nothing. I'll either be miserable by myself or miserable with Johnnie."

"Yeah, that's right, he did ask you out the other day didn't he." I nodded. "Why would you be miserable with him?"

"He's not tall enough, doesn't have red hair, or freckles or call me Princess when I don't feel good. You know, Charlie brought me here the first Christmas after my parents died, that's when I knew I'd be working with dragons at some point in my life. He...he taught me how to fly then fixed my bruises so his mum wouldn't find out. He built the tree house me and his twin brothers thought we had built...he showed me a spot on the roof where no one would think to look for me...he got me drunk on my 13th birthday because we both had a bad day. He used to tell me stories when I couldn't sleep or had bad dreams or was sick that were just horrible combinations of stories that I told him when he was sick or couldn't sleep or had a bad break up..." I wiped my tears. "We've always been there for each other, and now where is he? He's with his bitch girlfriend."

"Wow," Sarah said as I sniffled.

"So what exactly made you move out?" Ang asked.

"I couldn't stand seeing him with her anymore...it just hurt...the insulting didn't bother me. My sister said a lot worse things to me when we were younger. It was just seeing them together...he stopped caring about me at all, it's like I don't exist!"

I assumed I passed out since I woke up in my bed, fresh burn salve on my back and the scratches had been cleaned out. I groaned and tried to get up, but my head and stomach didn't like the idea. I moved as fast as I could to the bathroom, emptying the contents of my stomach.

"I'm never drinking again," I mumbled.

"You said that last time," I heard Charlie say from behind me. "Clean up, I made you bacon."

"What are you doing here?"

"Sarah and Ang had to work so they sent me to help you out today."

"I can take care of myself, don't feel obligated to be here. We both know you'd rather be with Rachel."

"Actually, Rachel and I broke up a few days ago."

"Oh, so I exist again?"

"Annabelle Lee Hughes, you know I've always cared. Rachel was just...I don't know. I'm sorry though, okay?"

"Give me the bacon and I'll decide if I'll forgive you afterwords."

"Well..."

"Bacon's great, you're still an asshole."

"Ouch." I grinned.

"Of course I forgive you. Have I ever not?" He walked over and kissed my cheek.

"Come on, let's go take care of the mess you call a back. Oh my god, Anna, you need to go see a healer, this is getting really bad!"

"What? And deal with your ex girlfriend? No thanks."

"Well you don't have a choice," I heard another voice say. "Sarah and Ang sent me."

"You are one of the last people I want to see, Rachel."

"I don't care. Charlie, you can go. I'll take it from here."

"Anna, promise not to kill her?"  
"I suppose."

"Let's take a look," she said after Charlie left. "Those scratches are infected."

"You're the healer, take care of them."

"No need to get snappy. Charlie and I broke up a few days ago."

"Yeah, he told me."

"Did he tell you why?"

"No," I hisses as she started cleaning the scratches.

"He got drunk and started talking about you...nonstop...for an hour. A girl can only deal with her boyfriend declaring his undying love for someone else so long without being offended," she said, chuckling quietly. "Just so you know, Mr. Boss Man is pissed that you didn't take time off work to heal up properly. He agreed with me when I said you are to take AT LEAST a week off."

"Oh, come on! I'll go crazy!"

"He's missed you, you know."

"Huh?"

"Charlie. Last night while he was completely shit faced all he could talk about was how much he missed you, wish you wouldn't have left, and wished you still cared about him."

"Is he crazy? Of course I care about him!" She ignored me.

"The icing on the cake was when he said he's in love with you."

"What?"

"You heard me," she said, grinning at me. "Sorry for being such a bitch, by the way. Charlie's quite a catch and any idiot with half a brain could see it wasn't really me he wanted anyway."

"He generally goes for the ones with a nice rack that are good in bed," I said, laughing. "Consider it a compliment."

"Forgive me?"

"I don't know, depends on how good the bacon you make when I'm hungover is."

"Funny thing is that she's not lying with that one," Sarah told her.

"She judges people by their bacon cooking skills?"  
"Yes, yes I do. Bacon is an important part of my life," I said laughing. I flinched when I had moved too much.

"Shouldn't somebody be looking for a certain red-head?" Ang asked.

"Depends on which red-head you're talking about," Charlie said as he walked into my hut.

"Not you, the _other_ red-head," I said, rolling by eyes.

"The only other red-head is Jenny and the last time I knew you didn't swing that way. I see you and Rachel haven't killed each other."

"I apologized for being such a bitch, but she says she'll only believe me if I make fantastic bacon the next time she wakes up hungover."

"She wants me to stay home for AT LEAST a WEEK! I'll go fucking CRAZY!"

"I didn't say you had to stay home, just that you weren't allowed to work. Take the time and go see some family or something. Charlie's got some time off coming up, take him with you." Rachel left, so Charlie sat next to me on the bed.

"What happened that Mike got sent to my area?"

"He pissed me off. Why did he quit?"

"Shirley may have attempted to burn him alive and take his head off at the same time. He walked away with some minor burns. Next day, he up and quit!"

"I was hoping Shirley would have eaten him."

"He got away in the nick of time."

"Damn."

After some semi-awkward silence he laid down next to me.

"Why did you move out, Anna?"

"Because I couldn't deal with Rachel. She was plain old mean to me, not that you noticed."

"I never wanted you to move out.."

"It would have happened anyway. I couldn't have lived with you forever anyway."

"Did Rachel tell you why we broke up?"

"Yeah."

"Well?"

"How are Shirley and Kelly?" Charlie sighed, obviously disappointed that I didn't answer.

"Kelly is doing great, he had breathe fire with no pain or anything. He's in perfect health, thanks to you. As for Shirley, she's a nesting mom now. Her eggs look normal and completely healthy."

"That's AMAZING! Why didn't you tell me!?"

"We stopped talking to each other, remember?"

"Oh...yeah. I can't wait to go flying with Kelly again. Maybe Shirley will go, too if she trusts her handlers enough."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, just mine, Kelly's and Shirley's little secret."

When we went to the burrow the next day, there was a feast all set up and waiting for us. Everyone was way too happy to see us home and Ginny kept eying Charlie and I, trying to figure out what was going on with us.

"Oh, Anna, what has you limping?"

"Um..kinda got burned."

"Kinda got burned? Anna, you were almost charcoal!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Oh I was not."

"Yeah, that's why half of your back is one big burn mark. Not a big deal at all."

"WHAT?!" Molly said, getting quite upset.

"Really, Molly. I'm fine." Charlie walked to me, turned me towards her and pulled up the back of my shirt. Molly gasped and I pulled my shirt down while glaring at Charlie.

"Please tell me you've been taking care of it properly!"

"Sort of."

"What do you mean sort of!?" I grinned at Charlie, letting him know I was about to throw him under the bus, so to speak.

"Charlie's girlfriend at the time, they broke up not too long ago, is the resident healer. Well, she was a total bitch and I didn't trust her as far as I could throw her. I had two of the people that work with me help me out with the scratches...well...the first set. We thought we were doing okay, but Rachel checked me out before we left and apparently I'm a little worse off than I thought."

"YOU HAD A GIRLFRIEND AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME? YOU DIDN'T EVEN BRING HER HOME!"

I took the opportunity to make my escape before I could get questioned anymore. I climbed out my old window and onto the roof where Charlie and I used to hide. A few minutes later, Charlie joined me.

"Well, that was just cruel," he said, grinning at me.

"It got me away from everyone, didn't it? How'd you manage to get away?"

"I asked Ron about Granger."

"Brilliant. Personally I would have gone for bringing up Harry and Ginny. You can't tell me you didn't notice the goo goo eyes."

"We can use that as our next escape plan."

We sat in silence for a few moments, just enjoying being back at our childhood home.

"What did you mean when you said you wanted to go flying with Kelly and Shirley?"

"Oh...umm...on nights I couldn't sleep, I'd grab my broom and we would race over the reserve."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"If I did it would have been hard to get away from you."

"Why would you want to get away from me?" I looked at him like he was an idiot. "Right...Rachel. She did cause a lot of problems with between the two of us, didn't she?" he said, leaning against the wall. I snuggled in next to him, making sure I wasn't putting pressure on my burns.

"Yeah, she did. It better not happen again, Charles Weasley."

"It won't as long as you promise not to date Johnnie."

"No problem there."

"Or any guy...ever."

"Are you trying to set me up for being a crazy cat lady? Just to make it even, since you're dooming me to a life of lonesomeness, you're doomed too."

"OR YOU CAN JUST BE TOGETHER YOU IDIOTS!" Ginny yelled from the window.

"How 'bout you don't yell?" I said, chuckling. "What are you doing up here anyway?"

"Mum sent me looking for you. She wants a good look at your burns."

I groaned and stood, knowing I had no way out of it.

"Did you remember the pain potions?" I asked Charlie. He shook his head. "Neither did I. Son of a Bitch."

I followed Ginny down to the kitchen where Molly waited with different antiseptics and a towel.

"Hello."

"Come here and let me see your back," Molly said. Apparently she meant business. "Dear, it's all dirty! It's got fuzz from your shirt stuck to it, not to mention the soot from traveling by floo! This needs to get cleaned up, come here, child."

She had me sit on backwards on a chair so she could get to my back better. When she lifted my shirt farther up, I yelped as it pulled some of the scab off.

"Just so you know, this is a lot better to do when I'm laying down. That way I don't faint when it starts hurting too bad."

She nodded and let me get up. I followed her to Charlie's room since she figured I'd probably end up sleeping there anyway.

"Shirt off and lay down, Missy. Are there any other wounds that could use some cleaning up?" I pulled my pants down a bit and showed her the scratch marks from the hatchling. "Those are infected for sure. Pants down, too."

I nodded, acquiesce to her request and laid down.

"This is going to hurt, Anna. I'm sorry, but I don't have anything to lessen the pain." I nodded and gripped the sheets and grabbed the pillow knowing I'd need something to scream into. The pain was more intense than it had been the first time it was cleaned out, most likely due to infection. I screamed before I could muffle it with the pillow. Charlie came rushing into the room, looking like he thought someone was trying to kill me.

"What the...why is she screaming?!" He demanded.

"I'm cleaning out the infection. Without any pain killers, it's bound to hurt more than usual," Molly explained to her son.

"Charlie, I'm fine. Really, I'm just in large amounts of pain right now."

He sat next to me on the bed and grabbed my hand while having me use his lap as a pillow.

"You'll be alright, Princess. Once it's all cleaned out, it'll be okay," he whispered. I thought he needed the reassurance more than I did, so I just let him talk. It was relaxing and helped distract me from the onslaught of different topical medications.

Molly sighed, finally done.

"Mum, there's a jar of burn cream in our bag from Rachel. It helps with the pain and has been working pretty well with the burns closer to her shoulder. Can you hand it to me? It puts her to sleep though, so we probably won't be back down."

"Alright, I'll have someone bring the two of you something eat later on. Get some sleep, Anna." She kissed my forehead as she handed Charlie the jar and walked out of the room.

"You okay?" he asked me as he pushed a piece of my hair behind my ear.

"Absolutely not. I'm pretty sure she ripped off the skin of my entire back, at least it felt like it."

"Let's get this on you, and you'll feel better. If not, at least you'll fall asleep." I nodded and let him apply it to my burns and a little onto my scratches (to help with pain). I smiled as he moved to be able to hold me without hurting me. I was grateful for the side affects of the medication to be kicking in, sleep was about the only thing that would work for pain

"I love you, Charlie," was the last thing I said before I fell asleep.

 **Don't forget to leave a review! No flames, please.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: It's About damn Time!**

 **A/N: Thanks again to everyone who has read, reviewed, or however else supported my story.**

 **Readers: I need your opinion. Do you like having the story mainly dialogue, or would you rather see other stuff? Leave me a review and let me know!**

 **Don't own anything other than my O/C's.**

When I woke up, I was surprised and happy to discover I was laying in Charlie's arms. He was wide awake and smiling like a crazy man.

"What's with the smiling?"

"Do you remember what you told me last night?"

"Uh...the potatoes are cold?"

"I believe you mentioned that, but that's not the answer I'm looking for."

"Um..ow this really hurts?"

"Try again."

"There haven't been enough explosions tonight, the twins must be up to something?"

"Anna, you know exactly what you said," Charlie said, chuckling at me.

"I might have mentioned that I love you."

"Exactly."

There was a knock on the door, interrupted a moment where there definitely could have been some kissing. I glared at the woman who walked in, not out of hatred, but out of her bad timing.

"Did I interrupt anything?" Rachel asked. "Before you ask, Molly flooed me and asked me to come over."

"You might have been interrupting something," Charlie said, giving his ex-girlfriend a dirty look.

"Ah, finally told each other then? It's about damn time. Well, off with the shirt, I need to check on those burns."

Charlie helped me pull the shirt over my heard, not liking that I winced when I lifted my arms. Rachel pulled it away from him as she poked and prodded and the wound.

"Hey, that hurts you know!"

"Oh, shush. The good cleaning Molly gave it was a great idea and it looks a lot better. A shower would be great to get all the fuzzies and what not off of the burn before I put some more paste on it. Charlie, it'd probably be a good idea for you to join her, you know. Just to keep her safe and all." she smiled and winked before walking out of the room and back downstairs.

"Well, what's the hold up, Mr. Weasley? I believe my healer just ordered me to spend some quality time with you in the shower," I winked at him before I slid the shirt back over my head. He suddenly looked like the cat that caught the canary as he picked me up and carried me into the bathroom. He grabbed a couple towels from the linen closet then locked the door.

"Want to make sure there's no interruption, eh?" I said, chuckling at him.

"Absolutely no interruptions," he said before kissing me.

"You know, I told you I love you, said exactly," I said, smirking. I really didn't care at that moment, I was just enjoying the kisses.

"You're not stupid, Anna. I'm sure you know by now."

"Oh, I know you do. I've heard it from many people that I'm all you talk about when you're drunk."

"You're just waiting for me to say it, hmm?" I laughed.

"I'm a woman, we do appreciate hearing that our boyfriends love us."

"So, I'm your boyfriend now, huh?" he said, getting all cheeky.

"Nah, friends with benefits. Same thing I had going on with the twins."

"Ugh, the last thing I want to hear about is whatever you and the twins did. I really do NOT want to know."

"Oh, really? There was this one night that Fred had me bent over the..." I suddenly felt a hand over my mouth.

"I could be telling you about Rachel and I."

"You don't need to _tell_ me. I _heard_ it."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Back to the boyfriend thing."

"What about it? Is that what you want?"

` "That is one of the dumbest questions I've ever heard."

"I've heard some dumber ones. Johnnie asked me out last week, that was a pretty stupid question. I told him that he only stood a chance if he grew a few inches and dyed his hair red."

Charlie burst out laughing as we actually stepped into the shower after undressing.

"He didn't find it so funny though, walked away muttering about all you damn Weasleys taking all the good women..."

"We are pretty good at that," he said before leaning down to give me another kiss as the water ran over us.

"I think I win though, I snagged three of you before Harry or Granger got one of you."

"But you also had years to figure out our weaknesses though."

"Your weakness is bacon. It's the same for all of you, even Ginny. Bacon."

"So is yours!"

"Yeah, but that's because I grew up with all of you."

"Why are we talking?"

"Because you stopped kissing me, duh." He grinned, kissing me. I momentarily forgot where I was, as cliché as it sounds...everything just kind of disappeared when he kissed me.

"I thought we were supposed to be taking a shower," he said as he pulled away.

"Well, we're in the shower, so technically we are. Although, I'm getting all pruney and my burn is starting to hurt. Let's finish and get out of here, yeah?"

"Dear lord, that took forever!" Rachel said as we walked into the room. "I was just going to wait for you downstairs, but it was starting to get a little awkward when Ginny said I was an ex girlfriend."

"Sorry about that," I said, grinning. "I may have mentioned you and my deep seeded hatred of that I had of you in a letter...or five."

"You don't hate me anymore though, right? I saw what happened to that Mike guy, he didn't look so pretty once you were done with him."

"I may have slight anger management issues, but no, I don't hate you anymore. Anyhow, let's end this heart filled conversation and get my burns taken care of. I'd like to be able to go downstairs."

"Yes, Ma'am!" she said before getting to work. "They're looking even better now, the should be healed completely by the end of the week, THEN you can go back to work."

"What!?"

"You heard me, Missy. No work until Monday!" I sighed, knowing I wouldn't be getting my way.

I regretted going downstairs as soon as we made an appearance in the living room where Molly bombarded us with questions.

"Did you finally tell her you love her, Charlie? What about you Anna? When's the wedding?! It best be soon, I want grand babies!"

"Molly, calm down...there will be no talk of weddings or babies, okay? Not there yet, not even close," Charlie said as we backed closer and closer to the fire place. We were both scrambling for a distraction so we could make a quick escape.

"You've been in love with each other for a long time. Don't look at me like that, Charles. I'm your mother, we can tell these sorts of things. Anna's had that look in her eyes when she was with the twins! I'm _old_ not _blind._ "

"Did you know Ginny is dating Harry Potter?" I said pretty loudly. Molly turned to ask her daughter about it, and by the time she turned back around to face us we were happily sitting on my couch in Romania.

"Ah, the joys of well placed distractions," Charlie said before he kissed me. I smiled before I move to straddle his legs to sit on his lap. He ran his hands up and down my sides, careful not to brush too hard against the burns. The decision to not let anyone know we were back yet had been a good one, especially when clothe started coming off. Charlie's upper body was something I'd seen frequently, yet in this situation, I couldn't help but run my hands over his muscles. I felt him smile against my neck, where he was trailing kisses to the neckline of my shirt. I bit my lip as I bent my neck, giving him better access.

"Damn it," I said as I saw Sarah and Ang walk into the hut with beer, fire whiskey, and party decorations.

"Do you think people will ever stop interrupting us?" Charlie asked, glaring at the two girls.

"WOAH, what the hell?! You guys aren't supposed to be back until tomorrow!" Ang exclaimed.

"We decided to come back a day early to have some _alone time_ ," Charlie told her.

"It's about damn time!" Sarah yelled as she took in the view. "Damn, Charlie. If I knew you looked like that I would have tried a little harder to snag a Weasley!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Well, there's still Percy and the Twins, you still have a chance!"

"Oh...well...we were planning on having a welcome back party tomorrow...think you can get the twins to come? From what I heard, Percy just doesn't my type."

"I doubt the twins would ever turn down a party." I got up, wrote a quick letter and sent Gred to deliver it.

Rachel showed up not much later with the pretense of checking my burns, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out she was just being nosy.

"Rachel, you just checked on my burns this morning, I doubt anything has changed since then. Why are you really here?"

"Um.."

"That's what I thought, word travels fast," I said, grinning.

"So, when's the wedding?" Ang asked.

"Are you serious?" Charlie asked.

"Of course. Everyone knows that the two of you are going to end up married. It's been a running bet around here to see how long the two of you would hook up."

"Glad to be a form of entertainment," I said sarcastically.

"Okay, since there's no wedding in the near future, what about babies?"

"ANGELA!" I yelled. This discussion was getting on my nerves quick.

"Are you pregnant?!"

"ANGELA!" I yelled again. "NO!" I plopped down on the couch next to Charlie who was also getting quite annoyed. After realizing that we were getting more annoyed with everyone and the stupid questions Angela kept asking Rachel headed out with a she left strong suggestion that everyone else leave, too, especially Angela. Reluctantly, she and Sarah followed Rachel out the door. I sighed.

"I'm starting to hate her."

"No you're not. She's just being annoying. Do you have any bacon? I'm hungry."

"Charlie, I'm practically a Weasley. Of course I have bacon." A few minutes Charlie had a breakfast for dinner meal going on while I enjoyed the silence. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Johnnie and Dave burst through the door having heard we were back. I rolled my eyes, news really did travel fast.

"What?" I asked, not too happy they had shown up.

"Just heard you were back in the neighbor hood. Is it so horrible to want to come visit you?"

"Yes."

"Is that bacon I smell?" Dave asked. I could practically see Charlie roll his eyes from my view behind him.

"Yeah. I take it you want some."

"If you're offering, yeah." Dave said, taking a seat at the table. An hour later, I shoved them out the door, not wanting to listen to them babble about random shit. I locked the door and sighed again.

"Do you think people will ever leave us alone?"

"Probably not. Like Johnnie said, the two of us being together just makes it easier to hang out with each of us instead of making time for both of us."

"Thanks for cooking, by the way," I said as he made his way to the couch next to me.

"No problem. I know we've been avoiding this subject from everyone...but I am curious. What do you want out of this relationship? Marriage, babies?"

"Ugh, not you, too. Why are we even talking about this? We've only been together for less than 24 hours!"

"I know...but I think it'd be good to be on the same page, besides, we've been joking around about it since we were kids." I sighed and shook my head before I started my speech.

"Okay, fine let's talk. I don't want babies for quite awhile, and no more than three. I'm not going to be a baby machine and I don't want to be a stay at home mom. I'm not retiring. If we end up having kids, we'll find a place close to the reserve since it's too dangerous for kids to be around here, despite what Jennifer says. The only way I'll leave this place other than kids is if I get hurt badly enough that I HAVE to retire, get fired, or die. As for weddings, not looking for that for a long time, but for future references I like sapphires, emeralds, and rubies much more than diamonds. Oh, and I like white gold more than silver or yellow gold...just in case."

"For someone who doesn't want to talk about, you sure know what you want without much thought. Oh, by the way, I like white gold too, nothing too fancy. I'd like more than three kids, by the way."

"What did I say about a baby machine?" I said, laughing at him. "Alright, I won't care as long as we're all happy and we can support everyone, okay?"

"Perfect. Now we're on the same page. Was that so horrible?"

"Yes, it was like pulling teeth."

We ended up dozing off on the couch, the previous mood long gone. After awhile, I just couldn't sleep anymore and I didn't want to wake up the slumbering Weasley behind me. I wiggled my way out of his grasp, threw on some shoes and headed out to visit my favorite dragon.

"Hey, Kelly. How are you doing boy?" I said, scratching behind his left ear. He listened to my problems, not that he had anything to say in return, you know, being a dragon and all. Instead, he offered his neck for me to climb onto his back. We flew around the reserve, higher and higher until everything looked like a bunch of ants. I smiled and laughed as I looked down and felt the wind in my hair. It had been such a long time since I'd been able to fly, I just couldn't get enough of it. We finally landed in his normal spot, he let me slide down one of his wings where I saw a very angry looking Charlie.

"Where the hell have you been?" he snapped at me.

"You just saw me with Kelly. Where the hell do you think I was?" I replied, matching his tone of voice.

"You had me scared to death, Annabelle! You're not fully healed up and you go flying!"

"Charlie, if you're going to start babying me, and treating me like I have no experience with dragons, we might as well not bother going on with this relationship. I'm not a child. I may not have been working here as long as you have, but that doesn't make me an idiot. You trusted me with Kelly when I was a hell of a lot younger!"

"You could have..."

"Don't even finish that sentence. If you do, get used to an empty bed." I walked back to my hut and immediately to the bathroom where I locked the door before taking a shower. A few minutes later I heard a knock on the door.

"I'm sorry, Anna. I know better than that. I just got worried when you weren't there when I woke up. Forgive me?" I sighed. With a flick of my wrist, the door unlocked.

"Forgive me?" he repeated. I answered him with pulling him into the shower with me before kissing him hard on the lips. He pulled away and started chuckling as I started unbuttoning his shirt.

"I thought I told you to leave your shirt off," I said before nipping at his neck. I pulled the soaking wet shirt off of his arms, then tossed it to the floor outside. Meanwhile, he had worked on his pants after quickly removing his shoes. I grinned as I watched him, pleased to be facing a very naked Charlie Weasley.

"Well, what do you know? Alone time at last," he said, before kissing me and pressing me against the wall. I wrapped my arms around his neck, playing with the hair at the base of his head.

"This isn't how I thought the day would be ending," I said as I pulled away. "But I much prefer this way."

He grinned before his hands started wandering, making me bite my lip and smile at the same time. I pulled him in for another kiss while his hands kept wandering up and down my legs, around to grab my ass then up to massage my tits. I moaned quietly before he kissed down my neck again, and I was quite positive I'd have a love bite or two in the morning.

Later on, we laid in bed curled up together still naked as jay birds.

"Well, that shower was pretty pointless. I never even got to clean off because _someone_ decided to keep getting me dirty," I said, smiling at him.

"And you loved every moment."

"Maybe."

"Maybe? That was a lot of moaning my name for it being "maybe." You loved it," he said, nipping at my neck.

"You had a fair amount of Anna chants in there as well, so shush."

"The things you can do with that mouth of yours, how could I _not_ say your name?"

"Should I show you again?" I asked as I felt him harden against me.

"Yes. I would love another demonstration. Be careful, you might end up with a marriage proposal."

"Only counts if you've got that ring for me," I said, grinning as I moved down his body.

The party the next day didn't take long at all to go into full swing. Minutes after Sarah and Ang declared the party started, the hut was full of people, including the twins who brought Bill for the sole reason that Fleur is being a bitch and kicked him out. Sarah and Ang hit it off with the twins really well...a little too well and ended up leaving early. I laughed as I yelled at them on the way out, warning them that the twins bite.

"How do you know they bite," Johnnie asked, bumping my shoulder.

"Oh, I used to mess around with them, but decided Charlie was better. Wait, that sounded wrong," I slurred before I fell onto the couch. Charlie laughed as he sat down next to me.

"Be careful, Charlie," Dave joked. "She has a habit of going for the older brothers!"

I smacked him on the chest. "Gross Dave..extremely gross. Besides he has a thing for Phlegm."

"What?"

"She means my wife Fleur. She's french," Bill explained.

"I take it the two of them don't get along?"

"Oh Merlin, no. Last time we left them in a room alone together poor Phlegm, sorry, Fleur," Charlie corrected as Bill smacked him upside the head. "Anyway, Fleur ended up with a broken nose and Anna ended up with a black eye. Who know Frenchy could pack a punch?"

"I let her hit me," I slurred, smacking him on the chest.

"Why don't you get along? Got a thing for Bill and she's in your way?"

"No. Her voice annoys me."

"That's why you broke her nose? Because you find my wife's voice annoying?"

"Well, why did she hit me?"

"Because she thinks you're a bitch." Everyone laughed at that.

"That's the reason we all love her!"

"See, they find my bitchiness charming."

A few hours later, I found myself being carried to my room by a mostly sober Bill.

"Charlie's passed out on the couch," he explained. "I'll wake his ass up and send him your way," he said as he set me on the bed. I nodded as immediately passed out again.

"Wakey, wakey!" Bill said, popping his head into the room. I would have yelled, but when I got up, I saw he had two hang over potions and the smell of bacon from the kitchen. I smacked Charlie on the chest.

"Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty," I said, kissing his forehead. "Bill made bacon."

"This is why you're my favorite brother," Charlie said as he got out of bed. He grabbed a small bottle of potion before walking past him to the bathroom.

"Gimme," I said as I took a small bottle from his hand.

"Your breath is horrible."

"So's your face," I mumbled as I walked into the living room.

"Haven't changed a bit, have you?"

"Of course I have. Instead of having the chance of dying due to potions mistake or experiment gone wrong on a daily basis, I can now get eaten, burned to death, torn in half, have an arm torn off, ect, my IQ has dropped a few points from working semi-safely at WWW to being a dragon keeper." He chuckled.

"So what's going on with you and Phlegm anyway?" I asked him.

"She decided it would be a good idea to pick a fight with me the day before the full moon. She should know by now I'm more than a bit irritable and I ended up snapping at her. No, not literally, but enough that it scared her. She kicked me out, saying she needed some time to figure out if she could deal with the werewolf thing anymore."

"I feel like I should be saying something along the lines of 'she'll forgive you' but I can't bring myself to do it. She knew about it before the two of you got together, it's not like dealing with you on a full moon isn't something she's never done a million times. She should have known better to pick a fight with you then. It's not like you physically hurt her."

"I know...I know...but, I love her though, Anna. I can't just let her go..."

"Then why are you sitting at my kitchen table instead of getting Phlegm back?" He grinned and apparated away.

"Damn, you're good," I heard Charlie say from the doorway. "It would have taken me hours to get him to figure that out."

"Took me what? 15 minutes? You're right, I'm amazing. Bacon?" I said, offering him a piece.

We headed back to work that afternoon, Charlie shocked that I was walking with him over to the injured adult dragons.

"I figured you'd stay over with the hatchlings," he said. "You know, after you got hurt."

"Charlie, you really think I'd let a little accident keep me from working with adult dragons?"

"A little accident?"

"Oh, don't start that again, Charles."

The week went on, same as ever, until we got a letter in the mail from Bill.

 _Dear, Anna and Charlie_

 _Great news! We'd tell you at the mandatory family dinner for the announcement, but I know you'll find a way to not have to go. Fleur's pregnant!_

 _Love,_

 _Bill_

"Charlie! Oh my god!" I said, shouting across the room to the kitchen where Charlie stood cooking our dinner.

"What's so exciting?" He said, chuckling.

"Phlegm's pregnant!"

"That's great!" He said, grinning at me. I knew that look in his eyes, it was the same he got when Rachel announced her pregnancy.

"Don't even think about it, Charlie Weasley," I said, grinning at him before adding "No ring, no baby!"

"I know, I know," He said, kissing me on the cheek after I had made my way over to him. "Still enjoying working with me and Johnnie?"

"The risk of dying is much higher, so of course I'm enjoying it! Besides, half of the adults we work with I raised from egg until they were big enough to be out on their own!"

"Good, we really like having you there with us, you're fantastic."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Sarah and Ang have actually started dating the twins."

"How do you know this before I do?"

"I may have over heard them talking to Rachel when I took one of the younger guys to the infirmary."

"Those bitches better be telling me soon," I said, smiling. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the loud knock on the door was from a squealing Angela.

"So, the twins, eh?" I said, chuckling as I saw Sarah give Charlie a dirty look. "Looks like you won Snag a Weasley!"


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: End of an Era**

 **Part one: Anna:1 Boss: 0**

 **Part two: Drunk Girls are Stupid**

 **A/n: Thanks for reviews, etc.**

 **Smut scene in this one!**

 **Don't own anything but my o/cs.**

Life had drastically changed over the next few months. Sarah and Ang quit to go work in the new store the twins had started not too far away from the Char Bar. Apparently Bill and Phlegm took over the shop in Diagon Alley. It was weird not having them around, but there wasn't much time for me to think on it. With them gone, I got moved back to working with the hatchlings. With two people gone, that meant twice the work for Dave and I. I still had to work with the adult dragons occasionally. I was exhausted at all times. Half the time I was doing double shifts and on days I had off, I generally got pulled into doing something else.

Charlie had moved in with me under the pretense that there were a couple newbies coming along that would need a place. Yes, there were newbies coming, but Ang's hut was empty and so was Sarah's. It had been decided that I won "Snag a Weasley" because I managed to get three of them, even though they got the twins to move to a different country. I didn't care anymore, anyway. I was too tired to joke around much. My favorite red-head was getting worn out, too. I noticed that a lot of his older injuries were starting to act up more than they used to and were slowing him down. He had to take a strong pain potion most nights, which he didn't like to admit.

"Charlie, what's acting up tonight? Knee or shoulder?"

"How about just everything?" He said before he drank the potion. He plopped down on the couch next to me, and pulled me into him.

"Rough day?"

"Yeah, ever since you got moved back to the hatchlings, we've had to get used to being short handed. It doesn't help that the new girl has Johnnie going all googly eyed at her."

"Mckayla? Might want to tell him she's gay."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. Her girlfriend Jean is an absolute sweetheart."

"How do you know all of this and I don't?"

"Both of them are part of the group I'm training."

"When do you have time to do any training!?"

"That's what I do during the day."

"And when you do night shifts?"  
"That's when I fix everything they did wrong that I didn't catch, which is getting to be more and more these days, unfortunately. Why can't they bring someone in from another reserve who doesn't need training? They keep sending in complete idiots!"

"Dave quit today," Charlie said quickly and quietly.

"WHAT!? Oh great, I'll never get a day off again, or get sleep, for that matter!"

"I could always come over and help out."

"You guys are already short handed over there, I can't ask you to come over to my department, Charlie. That would just be mean to Johnnie."

"Can't blame me for wanting to help, can you?" he asked before kissing my forehead.

A couple of weeks went on and by the end of those 14 days, I just couldn't go anymore. I barely got any sleep, and it felt like every old injury I'd ever gotten was acting up, but I couldn't slow down. The trainees still had two weeks left, and a replacement hadn't been found for Dave. I felt like I was about to keel over and die and Charlie wasn't doing any better than me.

"You're taking a pain potion every night, you know, Charlie. You sure your as okay as you keep telling everyone? From my point of view, you're not. Ever think of slowing down for awhile?"

"Hypocrite. You're worse off than I am," he snapped. "Anna, I hear you cry yourself to sleep some nights when you think I can't. I try to hold you and you're in so much pain I can barely touch you! All of those injuries you got from...then...are starting to act up, I can tell! Your shoulder gives out doing the simplest things, you hips are uneven again, yes, I can tell from how you sit, and I know how much pain that puts you in! Anna, if anyone needs to slow down, it's you. Do you plan on slowing down?"

"If given the opportunity, I'd LOVE to. I'm doing my work on top of three other people's work on top of training three completely incompetent morons how to work in my department! I do double shifts Every. Fucking. Day. If I could take a break, I'd love to, Charlie. I love my job, and I'm sure everything will be fine once the new trainees are ready to start working, and then I won't be such a mess."

"I had no idea it was so bad over there."

It was another week before anything substantial happened. The trainees had just finished up for the day and I was about to start my clean up when I got a surprise visit from the man I called Mr. Boss man.

"Anna, how are you?" He asked once he was in front of me.

"Fine, Sir."

"You've been here long enough, there's no reason to call me sir. Please, call me Jeremy."

"Okay, so what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"I'm afraid I come baring bad news. It hasn't escaped my attention that you've been slowing down. Your reflexes have gotten much too slow ensure your safety. As you well know, you must be quick to react when dealing with dragons, even hatchlings."

"So, what are you trying to tell me?"

"To be blunt, it's not safe for you to be working in this department anymore. I'd be more than happy to offer you another position. In fact, Rachel needs help in the infirmary."

"Okay, now it's my turn to be blunt. You have put all of this extra work on top of my shoulders and on top of that, I still have all of my regular duties to do. Plus I'm training complete idiots,"

"Anna, I am aware that you have been doing extra work," Jeremy interrupted.

"No, I don't think you do. While you're sitting in your office, I am doing four peoples' work by myself. I do double shifts every day and spend a great portion of the night with the sick dragons. You know what I do when I'm done with the trainees for the day? I clean up their messes. I haven't gotten a day off since Ang and Sarah quit. Now that I'm the only on in this department it's a wonder I get any sleep at all! I do all of this shit every single day, without fail and you expect me to be at top performance. Have you even tried to get me any help or were you just going to have me keep doing this by myself? Yeah, I'm slowing down and if I keep working under these conditions I'll either end up severely hurt or dead. You know, I heard this is the department you worked in before you became the boss. Why don't you get off YOUR ass and come help me? You come over here to fire me when the reason I'm slowing down is YOU!" Maybe you should think before putting this much work on ONE person's plate! Fuck it, you know what? Fuck this and fuck you! I can't keep doing this, it's going to end up getting me killed. After I'm done with this group of trainees, I quit."

Jeremy looked at me, shocked and not sure how to react.

"Well, Anna, you make some good points. I was unaware of just how much work I was expecting you to be able to do. Perhaps if I have another dragon keeper transferred over here temporarily, you'd reconsider your resignation? Perhaps a day or two off would do you some good as well. Starting tomorrow I'll be start working out here as well. Alleviating some of the pressure off of your shoulders should help your reconsidering, correct?"

"Uh, yeah. Um, who would you be transferring?"

"Charlie Weasley. I've been told he is competent in this department."

"Yeah, he's great with the hatchlings. Who else would you bring over?"

"Jennifer Aide."

"Yeah, she'd be okay over here. What's with all the help all of a sudden?"

"You are the best we've had in this department for a long time, and it would be a shame to lose you. I apologize for my previous actions and assumptions."

"I can have days off now," I said to myself, not able to keep the smile off of my face.

"Yes, why don't you take tomorrow and the next day off. I'll make sure Charlie has the next couple of days off as well."

"Th...thanks.. FUCK!" I screamed as a newborn Iron Belly bit my hand. Thankfully at such a young age, the didn't have the venom yet. "No worries, he's just hungry," I explained.

"I'll take care of that, you go get your hand taken care of. Take the rest of the day off too."

"Uh...thanks." I sure as hell wasn't going to argue.

I headed over to the infirmary only to find Rachel leaning up against the cabinet holding medical supplies with a grin on her face.

"So, what was that all about?" She asked as she started digging through the cabinet, grabbing what she needed. "I heard yelling between you and Mr. Boss man."

"He came over to fire me since I've been slowing down."

"Yeah, I've noticed you've been slowing down, too."

"Shut up and let me finish, would you?" I said, smiling even as she started disinfecting the bite.

"Sorry."

"Anyway, he came over to fire me," I repeated. "No, he didn't fire me, I ended up yelling at him about all the extra shit he's been having me do and how expected me to do all of that and stay at top performance. Then I threatened to quit. Then he started kissing my ass. He's going to have Charlie and Jen transfer over to my department...and get this...he's actually going to come out and help too!"

"Holy shit!"

"Best part...I have the rest of today off, and the whole weekend!"

"Seriously, you got him to come out of his office to help?"

"Yeah."

"He must be crazy desperate to keep you here."

"It's just weird. First he wants to fire me and now he's kissing my ass!"

"Who's kissing who's ass?" I heard Charlie say as he walked in.

"The boss is kissing your girlfriend's ass," Rachel said. Then she took it upon herself to retell the story for me.

"So, I guess I'm working for you now," he said, kissing my cheek.

"Not until Monday. I've got the rest of today off, plus the whole weekend!"

"Ah, that explains why I have the weekend off," he said, smiling as he pulled me in for a kiss. "My shift is over for the day," he whispered in my ear. I grinned.

"I know what you're thinking, Charlie," I said quietly. "Keep it in your pants and keep your hands to yourself," I said before kissing his cheek.

"What? Why?"

"This is the first day I've had off in months...I'm going to enjoy it by sitting on my ass doing nothing."

"Well, that's disappointing," he pouted.

"Alright, you can give me a full body massage. That way you get to grope me and I get some of the knots worked out of my back."

"I suppose that could work. Let's go," he said, pulling on my other arm. I was grateful that Rachel was done with my other hand. She was grinning at the two of us.

"You're free to go," she said. "Clean bill of health." Unfortunately, that gave Charlie the idea that carrying me was a good way to get home. Johnnie laughed as he saw us and shook his head.

"Shut up," I said as we walked away.

"I didn't say anything!" He said, still laughing. Charlie ignored him and kept walking, not stopping until we walked through the door. He carried me to the bathroom.

"Nice long bath first," he said, as he pulled my shirt over my head. He seemed to have a one track mind.

"Sounds fantastic. Will you be joining me?"

"Hmm...sitting in hot water naked while holding my naked girlfriend, how could I not?" He said, smiling as he unbuttoned my pants and slid them down my legs. I stepped out of my panties before he undid my bra. He started the water while I sat on the sink waiting. He walked over to me, grinning as we waited for the tub to fill up. I grabbed the back of his head and pulled him in for a hard kiss. One of his hands tangled into my hair while the other pulled me closer to him, almost making me fall off the sink.

Once we had to pull away for air, I couldn't help but grin before attacking his neck.

"Anna, you keep up with that, and we won't be taking that bath," he warned.

I ignored him as I started unbuttoning his shirt after untucking it. I kept up my assault on his neck as I let the shirt fall down his shoulders. My hands wandered over his chest and arms before I started on his pants. He pulled away with a hiss.

"Anna, you're driving me crazy here," he said before kissing me.

"Oh, I suppose we could stop. I did tell you to keep your hands to yourself, didn't I?"

"If you love me at all, you won't stop."

"Good thing I love you then," I whispered in his ear before using my legs to pull him closer to me. He started on his pants while I chewed on his earlobe gently while running my hands over his chest and arms as much as I could without getting in his way.

The bath was forgotten, him having picked me up and slamming me against the wall instead. He kissed down my neck, to my collar bone before taking a nipple into his mouth. I groaned as he switched to the other, tangling my hands in his hair as he moved up the other side of my collar bone...neck...jawline, then finally my lips.

"Charlie, I swear to Merlin if you..." He cut me off with a kiss while he pushed himself inside of me. I moaned into the kiss as he relentlessly slammed into me. He pulled away for air before stopping long enough to carry me to the bed, well attempt to anyway. Instead I found myself straddling him on the couch, lifting my hips up and down at the pace he desired. I screamed his name as I came apart, his release not far after mine.

"It's been way too long since we've done that," he said between pants. I only nodded in agreement before I heard water overflowing.

"We forgot to turn the water off didn't we?" I groaned as I got off of him to keep the bathroom from flooding like Moaning Myrtle's. A quick wave of the wand I found on the sink and the mess was clean, thank Merlin for magic.

Charlie and I made our way to the bedroom for a nap since sleep sounded like the greatest idea in the world at the moment when there was a knock at the door.

"FUCK OFF!" We yelled at the same time as we locked and warded the doors before curling up in bed.

 **Part Two: Drunk Girls are Stupid Otherwise Known as the Night Out**

The following afternoon ended up with us reluctantly accepting to go for a 'night on the town' with Sarah, Angela, and the twins since it had been so long since we had seen each other. A night on the town meant Charlie would be kicked out to go hang out with the twins while Sarah and Ang gave me a 'make over' for the night since apparently I had forgotten how to dress like a woman. Before I could defend myself, the twins pulled Charlie away and led him down to their flat for some guy time while we got ready. Why it would take us HOURS to get ready, I wasn't quite sure I wanted to know, but unfortunately I didn't have a choice.

"Anna, don't you own any clothing other than jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, and work clothes?"

"Yeah, I have Weasley sweaters, too," I said, rolling my eyes as they tore my closet apart.

"You have horrible taste," Ang said before transfiguring an extra baggy hoodie into an extremely short, strapless, red dress.

"Hey, look at that! There's an actual body after all of those baggy clothes! Why hide the curves?" I chose to ignore them.

"Uh..how about something that you know...actually leaves something to the imagination? One wrong move and I'm either going to fall out of the top of it or my underwear will show."

"Well, be careful about how you move then," Ang said as she rolled her eyes. She turned a black pair of boots into 5 inch stiletto strapy heels. "Don't worry, I'll charm the dress to stay put, too."

"Are you trying to kill me?" I asked as my eyes went wide.

"Anna, we're witches. You can charm them so you won't fall over and we can put a cushioning charm on them so your feet don't hurt at the end of the night. I promise, Charlie's jaw will drop straight onto the floor."

"He's seen me naked, it's not like he doesn't know what's barely being covered here looks like," I said, rolling my eyes. Just to get a jab in I had to say it. "The twins have seen me naked too, you know. It's no secret what's under this dress to them either."

"How about you don't remind us that you had sex with our boyfriends?" Sarah said before laughing."Yeah, but now you're all dressed up, gorgeous, and he'll have something to unwrap later on, and by HE I mean Charlie." The girls quickly got dressed before tackling my hair and make up.

"Your hair is nothing but frizz," Ang complained.

"It's hotter than hell outside, of course it's going to be frizzy!" Neither of them said anything else as they tackled taking my hair from frizzy to pin straight. Once everyone was done, we headed down to the Char Bar where the boys were supposed to meeting us at.

"Holy shit, Anna?" Johnnie asked.

"Yeah, it's me," I said, rolling my eyes.

"You look like a girl!"

"I AM a girl, you idiot. Remember? You were quite interested in me for awhile."

"Until Charlie beat the shit out of me," he said, laughing. "You look great."

"We know she does," Sarah said as she pushed me along.

"In a hurry to get to the bar?" I asked before chuckling.

"Yeah, actually. We can't wait to see the look on Charlie's face when he sees you."

The usual 10 minute walk lasted 5, the girls almost running in their excitement. If it wouldn't have been for that charm, I would have done at least 5 face plants. When we got there, Charlie and the twins were sitting at a table towards the back waiting for us. As we made our way over, Charlie's mouth did, in fact, drop.

"You look amazing," he said before kissing me and pulling me onto his lap. I laughed at his possessiveness.

"You don't look too bad yourself," I said. I had always loved the way he looked in jeans especially when paired with a shirt two sizes too small.

"How's work been?" George asked me, having to make an effort to look at my face, it seemed like Fred was having the same problem.

"Horrific. Since these two quit," I said, pointing to Sarah and Ang "I've had to do their work on top of mine, then Dave quit so that made it even worse and the icing on the cake is I'm training a group of complete idiots."

"Sorry about that," Ang said, hoping I wouldn't kill her.

"Hey, George, Anna's eyes are a little higher than her chest," Charlie said laughing at his brother.

"Sorry," he and Fred said at the same time. "They're just...there...what bloke could avoid looking at them? Especially ones that have already seen them!" Ang smacked him upside the head. I smacked my forehead.

"I told you this was a bad idea," I whispered in Charlie's ear. "I told _them_ making me wear this was a bad idea."

"I'm certainly enjoying seeing you in it," he whispered. "I'm sure it'll look even better on the floor."

Not long after, I had done several shots with the girls who then dragged me to the dance floor. Sarah started grinding on me, and Fred almost started drooling. I could feel Charlie's eyes on me as well be for I grinned as I looked over at him. Ang seemed to feel left out thus making an official Anna Sandwich. I was laughing my ass off, too drunk to even try to make myself look appealing.

"Fred, George, get your women off of me!" I yelled, still laughing. The twins went over to the dance floor where they pulled 'their women' off of me so I could run away. When I turned to leave, I saw two girls standing over by Charlie, once I was close enough, I could hear their obnoxious attempts of hitting on him.

"Yes, his muscles are quite fantastic," I said from behind them, making them jump. "They look even better without a shirt on."

"And how would _you_ know?" the blonde (go figure) asked.

"Could be the fact that he's my boyfriend," I said with a shrug.

"What would _he_ want with _you_?" Her idiot friend added.

"Well last night was fun," I said, smiling at them while I winked at Charlie. I told them what had happened leaving Charlie blushing and shaking his head, me laughing, and the girls torn between stomping off or asking for more stories.

"Just...go away," I said, shooing them off before plopping down on Charlie's lap. He handed me my fire whiskey before kissing my neck.

"You know, you didn't have to tell them everything."

"I wasn't going to, but then they started drooling and I just had to."

"What was that about? Ang asked as she sat down across from me.

"Oh, Charlie has a fan club apparently. I was just telling them a story," I grinned before downing the rest of my glass. The twins and Sarah joined us and I found myself being dragged back onto the dance floor by the twins. I was too drunk to give a damn anymore.

"CHARLIE!" I yelled, "Come save me from your brothers!" I laughed at the two idiots as Charlie almost, quite literally, threw them at their girlfriends.

"About time I got to dance with you," he whispered.

Twenty minutes, a few shots, and another interaction with Charlie's fan club, we headed home, leaving the twins, Sarah, and Ang to have the rest of their nights by themselves.

"So, what was up with the twins?" Charlie asked.

"Nothing was up with the twins," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Promise?"

"Charlie, I left _them_ to be with _you._ Don't be an idiot." He grinned before laughing.

"I know, stupid question. Just wanted to know before I ask something else," he said before realizing the last part of what he said. "Forget that last part, yeah?"

"For now."

After the semi- serious conversation we discovered that the dress did, in fact, look better on the floor.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Charlie's Secret House Hunting**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading!**

 **Don't own anything other then my o/cs**

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 **I'm going to be a pain in the ass here, but unless I get 3 reviews for this chapter, I won't be posting another one. I need some feed back. :)**

A couple of months later, Charlie was able to move back to his area since Jen and I had everything under control. With the extra work off of my shoulders, I was able to properly teach my trainees, not just the text book required training.

"Alright, I'm sure you know this, but this is a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're not that temperamental, but watch out for that tail and those teeth. They have a venom that won't kill you, but could and probably would make you extremely ill. If you get bitten, even by a younger dragon, go see Rachel _immediately._ This is Suzie, she's a sweetheart. You may be able to touch her if she's in a good mood today." I let her out of her small enclosure and smiled when she walked over to the group.

"Hello Suzie," I said, scratching behind her left ear. "Oh, random thing I've discovered over the years. I have never met a dragon who does not like being scratched behind their left ear. Some are picky about the right one, though."

"How did you become so close to her?" Mckayla, one of the lesser annoying group members, asked.

"I was here the day Suzie hatched. I've raised her since then, and have had to make a visit to Rachel a few times because of her. No matter how close you are to the dragon, you still need to be on your guard."

"Who named her? Suzie seems like such a silly name for a dragon," Paul, the third member of the group asked.

"Oh, would you like to meet Shirley and Kelly? They're both full grown Hungarian Horntails," I said, grinning at him. "All of our dragons have names like that. Generally the dragon tamer who is closet to him or her names it. Shirley is a new nesting mom my boyfriend named. Kelly is the first dragon I ever had contact with, so I got to name him."

"Can we seriously meet them?"

"Maybe Kelly. Shirley won't let anyone but Charlie and I near her. Kelly is a little more friendly. We'll see though. We still have quite a bit to cover now that I can actually teach you correctly. Now, who would like to get a closer look at Suzie? She seems to be in a good mood."

Jean and Mckayla stepped forward, but Paul stayed behind.

"Suzie, this is Mckayla and Jean, they're not here to hurt you," I told her. "Speak calmly and quietly to her, baby talk to her, anything to make her know you're going to hurt her."

"Hi, girl. Aren't you a pretty little thing, yes you are, yes you are," I heard Mckayla say as she leaned down to scratch Suzie.

"That's right, good job Mckayla!" I said quietly as Suzie let her scratch her ear and pet her in general. "Jean would you like to give it a try?"

"Hi sweetie, I'm Jean," she said quietly. She didn't have to do or say anything else before Suzie came right over to her.

"Jean, I think you just made a friend," I said, smiling at her.

"What's the scar on your back from?" Paul asked when I stood back up. My shirt had ridden up a bit on my waist.

"Oh, bad accident with an injured Horntail. It covers half of my back."

"That sounds like it hurt like hell."

"Some of the worst pain I've been through. It took forever to heal, but of course I was stubborn and didn't get the right treatment right away. I'm assuming that's why it didn't heal as fast as it should have. Not a smart move, even if you do have a grudge against the healer," I said, chuckling. "Now, let's move on to the injured babies. Don't let their age fool you, they can be just as vicious as the adults, but do less damage. This one here is Jack. As you can see, he has a broken wing and he's not too happy about it. The problem is he won't let anyone get near him. What can we do to fix that?"

"For a dragon of his size and age, a simple stunning spell should work," Paul said.

"Good answer, give it a try." Once Jack was stunned and I was able to work on him, I mended the bone as best I could(which meant perfection) and wrapped it so it couldn't be used until fully healed.

"Isn't Jack going to throw a fit for not being able to use his wing?"

"Yeah, and with his attitude, I'm sure it'll be a doosey. Now that he's healed and still stunned, we can give him both some pain medication as well as a modified calming drought. Who can tell me why it's modified?"

"It's modified from the normal human type because it isn't strong enough for a dragon and would react badly with the blood if given too much of it, if that makes any sense," Jean said.

"Yep, it does. Too much of the potion, even the weaker version, can do some damage."

A few hours and a few more lessons later, my shift was over and I could go home for the rest of the day and night. I wasn't so sore when I got home, nor was I as tired as I used to be. It was nice to be able to spend time with Charlie other than sleeping and complaining about what body part hurt the most.

My one issue was that Charlie was being sneaky. I wasn't stupid enough to think he was cheating on me, that was just ridiculous. He grinned at me like he was up to no good every time he saw me, so I knew it was something big, and I had a feeling it was definitely a good thing. Johnnie seemed to know what was going on since he and Charlie hung out quite a bit when they both had time off.

"So, Johnnie, what are you and Charlie up to? I know the two of you are up to something," I said, smiling at him.

"We're not up to anything," he said, trying to sound innocent.

"You're a bad liar."

"I know. I'm not going to give you any details, but I will tell you it's going to be something you love."

"I'll take your word for it then," I said. He knew I was going to find someone else to tell me what was going on. It seemed like I was the only one being kept in the dark about everything and it was frustrating as hell. Charlie seemed to be enjoying my frustration, he kept making it more and more known that he was up to something, but wouldn't tell me. I was about to smack him upside the head.

The next day, two of my trainees managed to shock the hell out of me. Jean started asking about Johnnie, so did Mckayla on separate and multiple occasions.

"Wait...you want to know about _Johnnie?_ No offense, but I thought you and Mckayla were...you know...partners?"

"Oh, we are, but we're also bisexual. It's been awhile since we added a third person for a night or two. And well, we both think Johnnie is hot. Do you think he'd be into that?" I snorted, spooking the dragon I was working with.

"Oh, I'm sorry Suzie," I said, calming her down before I answered Jean. "I can't see how he _wouldn't_ be interested. I've known Johnnie for a long time now. There is no doubt in my mind that he wouldn't turn an opportunity like that down." I grinned, knowing that Johnnie was going to have a heart attack by the end of his shift.

I was shocked me even more than that was Jeremy actually carrying out his word, even though it was quite a bit later than he had said. The trainees, Jen and myself included were staring opened mouthed as our boss actually came over to help.

"What? You didn't think I was serious?"

"To be honest, I thought you conveniently forgot. I mean, you said you'd help us awhile ago and you haven't stepped foot out of your office. Seriously, after you fed Tony that one day, we haven't really seen you here."

"Ouch, your opinion hurts," he said, putting a hand over his heart while smiling at me. I was creeped out. During all the years I had worked at the reserve, that had been the first genuine smile I had ever seen on his face. I was in the process of teaching my trainees the unfortunate boring paperwork that had to be filled out on a daily basis. Jeremy was nice enough to show them the paperwork in more detail since he was the Master of the Paperwork.

I had the time of my life giving him shit jobs after that, literally, shit jobs. He was in charge of taking care getting rid of dragon dung, cleaning out pens, any horrible job I could think of. While the rest of the reserve was silently laughing at our boss shoveling shit, I noticed that Jen was asking around about my relationship with Charlie and just how serious it was. My first thought was that she was going to try to break us up, emphasis on TRY, and I was not okay with that. It was just unnecessary drama, but I decided to face the problem head on. My original plan was to just move her out of the department until she actually came to me.

"Look, I know what you're thinking. I'm not trying to get with Charlie, I was just asking because I heard him and Johnnie talking about buying a house. I was just being nosy, is all."

"Um, oh, okay," I said, before grinning. "A house, huh?"

"Yeah. I take it you didn't know about it?"

"Nope, surprising news."

"Oh, well I'm sorry I ruined the surprise."

"Don't be. I'll just get Charlie to tell me. He won't tell me outright, but I'm sure I can get him to talk in circles enough he'll let it slip. It's worked for everything else," I said, winking at her. She chuckled and smiled before we headed back over to the trainees.

At the end of the day, Charlie and I walked back to the hut with him looking at me oddly the whole trip there.

"Okay...what's going on?" He asked me. "You're too happy for right after work."

"I don't know, I may have heard something that made me happy." He suddenly looked both excited but nervous.

"What would that have been?"

"Take a guess," I said, grinning at him.

"The trainees are almost done?"

"No one told me that, I knew that before," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Uh, you're beautiful."

"I know, you tell me that every 2 hours."

"Shit, Jen told you, didn't she?"

"Tell me what?"

"That I'm buying us a house. SHIT!" He smacked his forehead as he plopped down on the recliner in the living room.

"Find anything good yet?"

"A couple places, but nothing that I think you'd like."

"Now that I actually know, you can actually _ask_ what I'd like," I said, rolling my eyes. "What brought all of this about, anyway? Last time I knew we were staying here until we retired, got fired, or I ended up pregnant. Well, I'm not retiring, I just fought like hell for my job, and I'm not pregnant."

"I know...but I've been thinking lately. Watching you with the baby dragons for the month I was working with you just made me...think."

"About?"

"I'm about ready to retire. I've been working on the field for a long time now, and I can't exactly be doing it forever and I'd like to start a new life with all my limbs intact. I don't want to live on the reserve because I'd just end up working anyway."

"You're talking about retiring when I just fought like hell for my job barely two months ago, you could have told me before hand and saved me the trouble," I said, chuckling.

"Yeah, I know. To be honest, I've kind of been looking around for awhile, but I'm serious about it now. Once we get a house, I'm going to retire so I can get the house set up for us."

"So, you want me to stay here while you're setting up our new domestic life, huh?" I said.

"I figured you'd want to work as long as you can, I mean, you don't even have to live there if you don't want, I just wanted to..."

"Wanted to what, Charlie? Start talking marriage and babies?"

"Yeah," he said quietly. I was silent for a few minutes before I answered.

"Alright, we'll get a house. You can retire and get things all ready for us, then I'll retire. _Then_ we can talk marriage and babies, okay?" He looked shocked but extremely happy. I smiled at him and kissed him.

"Uh, I may have told mum about it..."

"You told Molly."

"Yes."

"Why isn't she here flipping out about us not moving back to England?"

"Because I told her it was something I wanted to talk to you about first and until we decided, she had to keep her nose out of it."

"Okay..well, might as well get this out of the way now. What do you want to do?"

"Well, for now stay in Romania, obviously, and I'd like to stay around here until we end up having kids, assuming you want kids." I rolled my eyes.

"Stupid question," I said. "Well, when kids come along, there's no way Molly would let us live here and keep her grand babies away from her."

"So, here for now, move down the road?"

"Yeah, how's that sound?"

"Perfect. Should we tell Molly?"

"No, let her think I don't know anything about it. She's always loved surprises." Charlie laughed and kissed my cheek as he pulled me onto his lap.

"Uh...once the trainees are done and someone can replace you...would you consider retiring early and help me set up the house?"

"Yeah, of course!" I said, suddenly excited of the prospect of having a non-dragon centered life with Charlie that would most likely end up in marriage and babies.

"Do you want to help pick out the house, or can I surprise you with that?"

"Surprise away!"

A few days later, Charlie got a letter from Arthur (by floo, of course) which he was trying his damnedest to hide it from me. Leaving it on the kitchen table probably wasn't the best hiding places.

 _Charlie,_

 _I'm glad you've finally decided to settle down, and you definitely found the right woman for you to settle down with. We're very proud of you son. Molly isn't thrilled that you won't be moving back here right away, but understands._

 _I've known Anna just as long as you have, so I have some ideas for a perfect proposal, just like you asked._

 _-On the roof where the two of you like to hide_

 _-By the lake_

 _-Some clever way involving Quiddich...possible a message on a golden snitch? Might need a bludger though, you know how hard headed she can be. (just kidding, Anna. I'm sure you've found this despite my son trying to hide it for you. Take it easy on him and just circle the idea you like best.) I'm sure Harry would help you set that one up._

 _-Tree house_

 _-Make a big deal out of it at the reserve by Kelly and Shirley. Maybe after Shirley's eggs hatch? I don't know, might be too dangerous, up to you._

 _Anna, just tell the man what you want._

 _Love,_

 _Arthur_

I couldn't help but chuckle, the man knew me too well. I grabbed a quill and circled one of the options letting Charlie know that if he picked any other way, I'd say no. I left him a note on top of the letter saying I was going out for drinks with Rachel and I'd be back later on.

"RACHEL!" I yelled as I got to her hut. "Rachel, Rachel, RACHEL!"

"Yes?" She asked as she opened the door to let me in.

"CHARLIE IS GOING TO ASK ME TO MARRY HIM, WE'RE BUYING A HOUSE AND WE'RE BOTH RETIRING...CHARLIE IS GOING TO ASK ME TO MARRY HIM!"

"Okay, how do you know about all of that?"

"Wait, you knew?"

"About it all."

"How long?"

"A month."

"And you didn't tell me?"  
"I was sworn to secrecy, plus it was when I was bandaging his leg up...healer patient confidentiality and all, you know."

"Do you know how it's going to happen? He didn't tell me. Please tell me it's going to be here so I can see it!"

"No can do. If he's smart he'll be writing a message on a snitch during a rigged makeshift Quiddich game in a couple weeks."

"Oh. My. God. You better take pictures!"

"I'm sure Arthur or Molly will be hiding a camera somewhere."

"What about kids? When's the wedding? Where's the wedding?"

"There's one problem with having kids..."

"You don't want one?"

"Of course I do. Charlie wants to have a small army of Weasleys like his mum did, I'm cutting him off at 5 though."

"Okay, so what's the problem?"

"When I was 16...I was raped...and cursed repeatedly. After a healer looked me over to see what all the damage was...internal and what not...well..um...my uterus was badly damaged...lots of scarring...all that stuff...only one functioning ovary...chances are I won't be able to have kids. Actually there's a 90% chance I won't be able to." A few tears ran down my face as I realized that the dreams Charlie and I had wouldn't happen.

"Does Charlie know?"

"Well, he knows about the rape, but not how extensive the injuries other than the ones from cursing. I never figured we'd end up getting together, so I never told him."

"Well, you might want to tell him, before he proposes. There are other ways to have kids though," she said. "Adoption and that kind of stuff. There might even be a way to help the scarred tissue, but I would recommend trying normally, of course."

"That would be amazing," I said. "I wouldn't have to tell him then!"

"I hate to say it, but it might be a deal breaker, even with other options. I don't see Charlie being like that though, he loves you way too much."

"I hope so. I could use some fire whiskey."

"I've got some here, unless you'd rather go out."

We spent the night drinking and telling stupid childhood stories until Rachel had to get Charlie to carry my drunk ass home. Once he set me down on the bed, I figured it'd be good to let him know what was wrong with me since I was still full of liquid courage.

"Charlie," I said, trying not to slur my words. "I gotta tell you something."

"It can wait until morning," he said before kissing my cheek. He moved to start taking off my shoes.

"No it can't. I've got to tell you when I'm still drunk enough not to second guess myself."

"Okay, it can't be that bad, can it?"

"There's a 90% chance that I won't be able to have kids naturally. Lee did a lot more internal damage than anyone told you. My uterus is scarred, I only have one functioning ovary...there's just so much going against the chance of me being able to have kids. I mean, it wasn't like you needed to know back then. I didn't think we'd ever get to this point anyway." I said, tears falling from my eyes again.

"What?"

"You heard me, don't make me repeat it. You hate me now, don't you? I can't give you your little army of Weasleys!"

"Annabelle Lee Hughes, it doesn't matter. I love you whether we can have kids or not. I don't need kids to be happy with you, Anna."

"Are...are you sure? I don't want you to hate me. Rachel...Rachel said there's other ways too...there's even a treatment that could help with the scarred tissue..."

"I'm sure. When the time comes and we're ready for kids, we'll figure it out, okay?" I nodded as he pulled me into his arms. "Besides, I'm a Weasley, you know how us men are," He said, trying to make me laugh. I chuckled and smiled a bit.

A couple weeks later we headed over to the burrow for a family lunch, but we suspected there might be something more significant to make the meal mandatory. Of course, we found out shortly after we got there, Bill got a promotion and would be moving back to England. The job wasn't as fun as being a curse-breaker, but it was still pretty fun. His new job would be how to make vaults more secure. The pay was much better and he'd be able to be closer to family. We all cheered and congratulated him.

Soon after, a game of quiddich was organized. Teams were me, Ginny and Fred and the other was Charlie, Harry, and George. Ron had sat out to 'entertain' Granger which seemed to be disappearing into the tool shed for awhile. Charlie and I were the seekers of course. I rolled my eyes, knowing what was going to happen, but played along knowing it would make Charlie happy that it was a 'surprise' even though I flat out told him what I wanted. Well, the ring would be a surprise, anyway.

An hour later, I caught the snitch. When I landed, a small message was showing up on the edges.

 _Will you marry me?_ Then the box opened to reveal an absolutely gorgeous ring. Closer inspection revealed it to be Grandma Prewit's engagement ring. It was white gold with sapphires.

"Of course I will, you idiot. I specifically told you in that letter your father sent that this the only way I was going to agree to marry you," I said before kissing him passionately. "Thank you, the ring is beautiful."

He knelt down on one knee to slide the ring on my finger. I smiled down at him. I had tears falling from my eyes. I had been right, Molly and Arthur had been snapping photos the whole time. I hated to admit it, but I couldn't wait to see them.

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 25: Pictures, Planning and Parties**

 **A/n: Thanks for reading this story, I appreciate it, but don't forget to leave me a review!**

 **This story is coming to an end, 3 or 4 more chapters and it'll be over. It's been a great journey though. I have a plot bunny for another story, It'll be focusing on Bill though. Tell me what you think of that idea?**

 **I don't own anything but my o/cs.**

 **Thanks so much to Guest and BlackMidnight13 for your review, and to anyone else I forgot, you guys definitely got me wanting to write again!**

 **Random Fact: I have a tattoo of a dragon on the right side of my neck.**

"Okay, show me the pictures," Sarah said as soon as she saw me the day after Charlie and I had come back to Romania. Rachel, Mckayla, Jean, and Ang weren't far behind.

"Will you just give us a minute?" Charlie said, grinning at them "We did just get back you know. Maybe we'd like some _alone time_."

"And that'll only take a minute?" Rachel asked. "Jeez, your stamina has gone WAY down."

"That idea sounds like a great one," I replied with a wink. "You can wait to see the pictures, they're not going anywhere," I said before walking over to my fiance and kissing him passionately.

"Yeah, go away," he said before he picked me up and carried me to the bedroom. I assumed they let themselves out, but at the moment we didn't give a shit.

No talking was necessary as we stripped each other of our clothes before hands started roaming and lips went everywhere. I grinned as he picked me up and threw me on the bed before crawling up my body, leaving a trail of kisses.

"Scoot up," he told me. I crawled my way to the middle of them bed up by the headboard, grinning, knowing he was watching and enjoying it very much.

"Much better," he said before making his way up my body and to my lips. "Happy?"

"About the sex or being engaged?" I asked before kissing him.

"Being engaged." He rolled his eyes at me.

"Yeah, I'm very happy." I smiled before he started another trail of kisses, sucking on both of my nipples before heading down south. I moaned as he left wet kisses on my belly before blowing on them. He looked up and grinned at me before spreading my legs and kissing my inner things.

"Enough with the teasing," I told him. "Get on with it or you'll be taking a cold shower." He chuckled knowing that I would never be that mean.

"As you wish," he said before he started licking and sucking on my clit. I moaned as he ran his fingers up and down my slit, enjoying the fact that I was already extremely wet. It wasn't long before he shoved two fingers into me and pumped them in and out while playing with my clit. I moaned as he went faster and faster and soon I reached my first climax of the night.

He grinned as he pulled his fingers out of my and made a big show of licking them clean. I bit my lip, wondering what he would do next and I was incredibly pleased when he slammed himself into me. I moaned loudly as he put my legs over his shoulders before he started thrusting. There was no gentle love making, no sweet nothings whispered in my ear, this was pure primal...fucking, to put it bluntly and I loved it.

We were yelling each others' names, not caring that we were being exceptionally loud. As I reached my third climax of the night, Charlie was pulled into his and soon collapsed on top of me, breathing heavily

"Get off of me," I said, chuckling. "You weigh a ton." He chuckled as he rolled off of me and onto his back, pulling me to him.

A few minutes later, before we fell asleep, I chuckled. "You know, the whole reserve probably just heard us."

"Good. Maybe they'll leave us alone."

"We can only hope."

We had just woken up from a two hour nap by a very loud knock followed by "Get some clothes on, we wanna see those damn pictures!" It was Sarah. I groaned as I rolled out of bed and threw one of Charlie's shirt on and put on a pair of his boxers before heading out. Charlie was still snoring away, so I closed the door quietly as I walked out of the room.

"Yeah, I was sleeping you know," I said as I let the group of girls in.

"You look like you've been thoroughly shagged," Rachel said, grinning at me.

"Oh, I was. You remember what it's like with Charlie," I said, chuckling as I dug the box of pictures out of my bag. Yes, a BOX of pictures. It was immediately taken from me as the girls started going through it.

"Oh my god, that's so romantic!" Ang said as she watched the snitch open. I sat down next to her and laughed.

"Yeah, then I called him an idiot."

"The man you've been in love with for years proposes and you call him an idiot?" Mckayla said. "That doesn't sound right."

"You haven't known the two of them long enough. They grew up with each other."

"That explains how they're insanely close."

"You know, I'm right here." They ignored me as they browsed through the box ooing and awing through the whole thing.

"I'm going back to bed," I told them."

"Can we stay and look at the pictures?"

"Do whatever you want," I said before I yawned. I made my way back to the bedroom trying to be quiet. When I stepped in, Charlie was awake and getting dressed.

"I was wondering where you ran off to," he said before he walked over and kissed my cheek.

"The girls are here looking through the pictures, completely forgetting I'm actually here so I figured I'd come back and take a nap."

"Feel free to lay back down," he said. "I'm going to walk out there shirtless, make things awkward and make them leave."

"Sounds like a plan. Hurry up and get them to leave," I said kissing him passionately. A few minutes later I heard the door close and Charlie chuckle as he walked into the room.

"Ready for round two?" I nodded before nipping at his ear.

Round two was better than round one and thankfully we didn't have any visitors and were able to sleep away the rest of the day and most of the night before we got hungry. Round Three ended up with us sleeping until noon.

The next day, Mckayla, Jean, and the rest of my fan club showed up, AGAIN, uninvited.

"We need to throw you an engagement party!" Jean said, way too excited.

"Yeah, that's great and all, but now I'm going to go get ready for work." I left the five of them in the living room while I headed to the bedroom to wake up Charlie and get ready to work.

I was happy to be with my dragons again and immediately went into training mode. I was shocked to have learned that Jeremy had been filling in for me when Charlie and I were gone. Their training was ahead now, us having skipped over the crap they learned in the technical training they did before the hands on. Some of it was just a learn as you go thing, you can't exactly tell how a dragon is going to act and sometimes the "instructions" just didn't work. Jeremy had decided to keep Mckayla and Jean at the reserve, but Paul would transfer back to Wales as he wasn't fast enough on his feet to be working with the breeds and temperament of some of the dragons that lived on the reserve. None of us were upset about that decision, Paul was kind of a stuck up know-it-all who didn't like that we did a "learn as you go" sort of training.

Of course, Mckayla and Jean still asked about Johnnie constantly, I had yet to say anything to him and they didn't have the balls to do it themselves.

"So, tell us about him, he's cute, but what else?" Jean asked as she checked the temperature of a nest of sickly looking eggs.

"I don't know, what do you want to know?"

"What's he like in bed?"  
"What the fuck?" I said, laughing. "No, no, no. Johnnie and I were never like that, not that he didn't try."

"Why didn't you hook up with Johnnie?"

"Charlie, duh. So what do you want to know?"

"What's he like...you know...as a person?"

"Well, he's really sweet, though he won't admit it. He's hilarious, uh...bat shit crazy at times. Isn't as much of a player or a bad ass like he lets on. He's got a heart of gold, is extremely loyal...uh... I dunno. He's like a brother I never had. Why exactly are you asking me about the details? I thought you only wanted to borrow him for a night or two?"

"We know," Mckayla said. "But we're a little more interested than that nowadays."

"Okay, have you actually had a 'relationship' with a third person?"

"Um...no. We've never really considered it," Jean said.

"Take it from me, dating two people at once is a lot more difficult that it sounds."

"How would you know?"

"Oh, before I hooked up with Charlie, I was dating his twin brothers."

"You dated twins?"  
"Yeah."

"How'd that go?"

"Decided we were better off as friends and left it like that."

"Isn't it awkward being with Charlie after doing that?"

"Not really. I get to tell him stories about what me at the twins them, he covers his ears and yells so he doesn't have to hear about my sexcapades with his little brothers. It's pretty funny, actually." That earned me a couple chuckles and smiles.

"Anna, what the hell are you still doing here? Your shift was over an hour ago!" Jeremy said from his spot by the injured babies.

"Oh, got a little caught up in training, sorry. I was just showing Jean and Mckayla how to take care of the sickly eggs."

"Well, get out of here and enjoy the rest of your day off."

"Alright. See you guys later." With a little wave, I headed back to the hut for a quick shower. Charlie still had a couple hours left until he was done for the day so after the shower I headed over to the infirmary to check on Rachel. It was actually pretty slow, and she always got lonely and bored being there by herself.

"We need to talk about your party," Rachel said as soon as she saw me walk in.

"How about we don't throw one? I'm okay with that, actually I'd prefer that."

"We weren't there when you got engaged, you gotta let us have something!"

"Nothing big, okay? Just a few drinks down at the Char Bar, okay? I don't really want to do much, and I'm sure Charlie feels the same. Save the craziness for the bachelorette party."

"Oh no, here comes trouble," I heard her say as a group of people rushed over to us, all with a few burns, scratches, and minor injuries, followed by Johnnie and the new guy Mark carrying someone on a conjured stretcher.

"Oh no," I said, having a feeling I knew who the blood spot on the fabric belonged to.

"Anna, you start fixing up the minor injuries while I try to stop the bleeding!" She yelled as she ran over to the stretcher. "Oh shit, Charlie, what the hell did you do!" Mark and Johnnie helped her while I zipped through the other injuries and sending them out.

"Okay, so who and what are we dealing with?"

"Charlie." I took a deep breath and tried not to freak out, it wouldn't do any good.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, I don't know..." She said, panicking. "We got the bleeding to stop, but...I don't know what happened!"

"JOHNNIE!" I yelled at the only other patient left. He had a mildly severe burn on his arm. "What the hell happened!?"

"New dragon and he jumped instead of diving...he got hit by her tail. He passed out on the way here."

"What kind of dragon?"

"Chinese Fireball."

"Shit," Rachel and I said at the same time.

"Rachel, where's the injury at?"  
"His ribs. A couple of them are cracked, but I can't do anything without spreading the venom. Any ideas?"I took a look at it and saw that it hadn't spread, it was seeping into his organs.

"Well, we could try what we did with Kelly," I said to myself. "That should get some of the venom out before it does much damage...what about what I can't get to?"

"I have a potion that should fix that. Once we have the venom out we can fix his ribs. So what exactly are we doing?"

"We are going to do a little bit of surgery."

"What?"

"You heard me. I need you to keep the wound as clean as you can and not let the venom that seeps out get into any other wounds, okay?" She nodded. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before making an incision where he had been hit. Blood and a greenish looking liquid ran out, Rachel kept the wound as clean as she could and she was doing a damn good job. Once we had everything out that we could, Rachel quickly patched up his ribs then ran over to the cabinet where she kept her potions.

"Here, make him drink this," she told me as she handed me a vial of dark red potion. I nodded and poured it down his throat, making him swallow it all. "That should suck up the rest of the venom in him, including everything that might have done some damage."

"Rachel, you are a miracle worker."

"Let's just see if this works first."

We worked on the rest of his injuries, nothing to serious and nothing that didn't take more than 10 minutes. Charlie woke up an hour later, wondering what the hell he was doing lying in a bed covered in bandages.

"You were hit by a Chinese Fireball's tail. No worries, we got all the venom out and you should be okay."

"If it wasn't for Anna, you'd probably be dead. I had no idea how to get the venom out so fast."

"How'd she do it?"

"Same way we did with Kelly. Sorry, we had to do muggle stitches on your side. We didn't want to use magic if we didn't have to, so no work for you until it's all healed up."

"That would explain why my side hurts like hell."

"Pain potion?" I asked him.

"We've got some at home, no need to get any from here. Come on, let's get home. Thanks Rachel."

"You're welcome. Take good care of him, Anna! Those stitches could get infected pretty easily. Try not to move around much, it could pull a stitch out!""

"I'll keep an eye on him. After I get him all situated I'll go talk to Jeremy."

She nodded before we headed home walking slowly.

"This hurts more than I expected it to," he said, wincing with every step. "Ugh, carry me." he grinned at me, knowing I'd probably find a way to do it. I rolled my eyes and conjured up a wheel chair and helped him into it.

"You are outrageously spoiled, you know that?" I said before I kissed his cheek.

"I blame you. You're the one that has _always_ babied me when I got hurt. You're almost as bad as mum."

"At least I'm better looking and not related to you," I said, chuckling a little.

"Thank Merlin for that."

"Oh, I talked the girls out of throwing an engagement party. I told them they can go bat shit crazy on the bachelorette party."

"We actually get uninterrupted time together?"

"Crazy, right?"

"Insane."

When we made it home, I helped him out of the wheel chair and into bed.

"Stay here. I need to go talk to Jeremy."

"Yeah, I know. Charlie and I ask for a lot of time off...He's hurt pretty badly and you know him, he won't take care of himself." I told my boss who wasn't too happy with me.

"The two of you get hurt an awful lot."

"Ugh, I know, I know."

"Maybe you're both getting a little too old for your jobs."

"Wait, you're a hell of a lot older than I am and you're still working, but then again all you've been doing for the passed couple of years is do paperwork. You really haven't had the chance to get hurt other than a paper cut." I snapped. I was getting beyond pissed.

"How long is it going to take for his stitches to heal up?"

"A week, week and a half."

"You expect me to be without our two best employees for over a week?"

"It's either that or his stitches get infected which will end up with him getting sick, tearing open the stitches and bleeding out, the list goes on with what could happen if someone isn't there to keep him from doing stupid shit. By the way, how are we your best employees when we're the ones that get hurt the most?"

"You both care enough about the dragons that you'll put _yourselves_ in danger to save one of them."

"Okay, so can I have the next week and a half off?"  
"I guess," he snapped. "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"No, you don't. I was going to stay with him regardless of what you said or not even if it got me fired."

I walked away from him, not bothering to listening to him. It wasn't that I didn't like Jeremy, it was more of an issue of him being an ass. When I made it home, Charlie was in the kitchen, raiding the fridge.

"Charles Weasley, get your ass back in bed!"

"Yes MUM," he said before grabbing the food I had made before work. "Can I at least put something more comfortable on?"

"Yeah. Need help?"

"Yeah, bending over kind of hurts." I nodded as followed him back to the bedroom where I helped him change into some loose fitting pajamas.

"Better?"

"Better than before. What did Jeremy have to say?"

"Bitched about needed more time off then realized I would've taken the time off whether he said I could or not. I didn't stay long enough to hear what he had to say after that."

"You look exhausted," he said, kissing the top of my head as he pulled me in for a hug.

"I am. The hatchlings weren't cooperating, Paul is an idiot and I ended up staying an hour after my shift. THEN I ended up have to patch up five people before saving your ass. All I want to do is sleep." I yawn as I laid my head on his chest.

"Into bed then. I'm not supposed to move around much and you need a nap."

"I can sleep on the couch, I don't want to move and hit your stitches."

"Don't worry about it. Change into some pj's and get your ass in bed."

"Yes, sir." I yawned and went to the dresser to get my usual oversized shirt and shorts. Once done, I crawled over onto the left side of the bed before Charlie laid down next to me.

"Now go to sleep," he said before he pulled me against his good side. I yawned for the millionth time and fell asleep immediately.

 **This chapter is absolutely nothing like what I had planned out, but I think it turned out pretty good. Only 4 chapters to go!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: A New Home**

 **A/n: Thanks for those who read and reviewed the last chapter, I love you all.**

 **Don't own anything.**

Charlie was a pain in the ass to take care of, as usual. He just couldn't sit still for more than five minutes at a time and was a huge baby when I had to clean out his stitches.

"Ow, ow ow! That hurts! Stop it!" He whined as he tried to pull away from me.

"Charles Weasley, I dealt with most of my back being burnt and being slashed open by a dragon, and I barely bitched then. You had to get some _stitches_ and you're acting like a baby! I thought you were supposed to be a big bad dragon tamer!"

"I am!"

"Than grow some balls and act like it! You big baby."

"Oh, stuff it," he said as he turned back over to me so I could finish.

"There, all done. Was that so horrible?"

"Yes." I chuckled as I threw all the old bandaging and what not in the garbage.

A few days later Jeremy shows up at our door with a pretty serious look on his face, much like the one he had on his face when he was going to fire me.

"May I come in?" he asked as I pulled open the door.

"Of course." I let him step in and shut the door behind him. "Where's Charlie?"

"In bed. I just got done cleaning out his stitches. Want me to go get him?"

"If you could."

"Alright, be right back. Have a seat." I walked back to the bedroom and sighed. "I've got some bad news for you."

"And that is?"

"Jeremy is sitting in our living room asking for you."

"Shit."

"Come on, let's get you out there."

"Ah, hello Charlie. How are you feeling?"

"As well as I could be being this beat up, I suppose. What's the visit for?"

"I'm afraid I have some bad news for you."

"Oh?"

"After much consideration, Charlie, I've decided that with the extent of the injury you have now combined with the many you've had over the years don't bode well for the future. I'm afraid I'll have to let you go. You may stay on the reserve, of course, since Anna still works here."

"So...I just got fired?"

"To put it bluntly, yes."

"Okay," Charlie said shrugging. He hissed, regretting the movement. "I was planning on retiring in a month or two anyway."

"Alright, so no hard feelings?" Jeremy asked.

"None at all," Charlie said. They shook hands and Jeremy took off.

"Wow," was all I could say.

"Not upset?"

"Surprisingly not," I said, kissing his cheek.

Two Weeks later Charlie was all healed up and running around house hunting and I was back to work. It was weird knowing Charlie wasn't out working with his dragons and I felt bad for being able to continue with the work I loved. He refused to let me quit or get myself fired and that I was going to keep working until we had a house that was perfect and put together. It wasn't too long after that that I found myself stepping into my new home. It was absolutely perfect, no it wasn't all set up yet, but I didn't care. We had decided to just move off of the reserve and I would just apparate there every day. While Charlie and the rest of the family was moving stuff around, I had my hours reduced so I could talk to Rachel about my options to have a baby.

I decided to go with the treatments and Rachel would be the one working with me...after pulling a few strings first. Of course, I made sure Charlie didn't know what was going on so it would be a bit of a surprise for him.

Once Charlie and the rest of the family had the house put together, I officially retired. Everyone was shocked when they lost the both of us within six months. We threw a house warming party combined with Mckayla, Rachel, and Jean's retirement part. The parties were surprisingly calm with nothing that interesting happened. Just old stories about working at the reserve, drinking, normal party stuff.

"Anna, I remember the first time you ever came to the reserve!" Dave said. "Just a little girl with big eyes with a natural talent for dealing with baby dragons."

"And now, here I am, a grown ass woman who just retired from working with dragons on the same reserve I visited when I was just that little girl," I said, smiling.

"How about that time that Charlie busted his leg! Kept telling the girls that a dragon tried to chew his leg off when all he really did was fall off his broom while we had a little impromptu game of Quiddich!"

"He tried pulling the same thing on everyone at the burrow when he got home. Molly and Arthur believed him. I managed to bribe him into telling me what actually happened though."

"How'd you bribe him?"

"That I knew about him having a girlfriend over here and if he didn't tell me what happened I would tell Molly so she could start planning the wedding."

"She's not that bad is she?" Ang asked.

"When it comes to Charlie, yeah. Never thought this one would get married." I nudged his good side earning a quiet 'ow' from him.

Molly came over frequently to help cook and get everything set up around the house. Of course, she got a little nosy about the wedding planning and kept asking me. I finally explained that Charlie was the one planning it since I already knew how he was going to propose. All I was allowed to know were the colors.

"My Charlie is planning a _wedding?_ Dear lord, we never thought he'd end up with a steady girlfriend and now he's planning a _wedding?_ I'm so glad you came along," she said, kissing my forehead. "I only wish he'd let me help. I am his mother after all."

"You know how stubborn he is though."

"Where do you think he got it from?" She asked, winking at me. "I thought it would take forever for him to admit he was in love with you!"

"Me too, Molly, me too."

"So, do you have any plans for your part yet?"

"Uh, yeah actually. The colors are red and gold. What I'm thinking of for a dress is ivory with a matching red color. I think I could...YOU and I could find something. As for bridesmaids, I'm going to ask Ginny, Ang, Sarah, and Rachel."

"What about their dresses?"

"I don't know. Something solid color with a sash thingy. I don't know, switch every other person. Ginny in a red dress with a gold sash, Ang in the opposite. Something like that."

"Sounds wonderful! Oh, I'd be happy to help!" She said, wiping tears from her face."Oh, I can't wait to get started! We should do the shopping on Diagon Alley or something, so Charlie doesn't even have a chance to see it! When are we going to start looking?"

"I'm going to wait until closer to the wedding, actually. Uh, I've got a little...personal project, I'm working on and it's better if I don't travel much until it's done."

"What's this project your talking about?"

"Charlie, I'm going to give mum a tour of the grounds!" I said before walking into the office and kissing him on the cheek. He pulled me in for a brief hug then sent me on my way, but not before smacking my but first.

"Alright, see you in a bit!"

We walked out the back door and onto the patio. I was glad Charlie was entertaining himself even though it meant he kept himself holed up in our office planning. I rolled my eyes at that thought. Wasn't it supposed to be the _woman_ that did that? He had been nice enough to tell me when the wedding was at least. October 13th.

"Alright, this is what's going on. My friend Rachel from reserve told me a while back that I have options to be able have kids. Umm...when she transferred to the local hospital, I went to talk to her again and decided to get treatments done that will take away some of the scarring and make it easier to have kids."

"I'm thrilled to hear that, Anna, but aren't those painful? I've heard of them."

"No worse than getting burned by an angry Hungarian Horntail. Besides, they're pretty effective so it's worth it." She smiled and me before linking arms.

"How often to you have them done?"

"Once a week. I go tomorrow actually, if you'd like to come along. I could use a hand to hold."

"Of course I'll come with you! How effective are the treatments?"

"Well, by the wedding, I have a pretty good chance of being able to have kids. She said if when we decided to have a baby, I should take fertility pill. I flat out laughed at that. I told her he's a Weasley, there's no need for that."

"Didn't she ask why?"

"Nope, her and I had talked about that before, actually."

"What made you decide to do all of this?"

` "When I told Charlie there was a low chance of us being able to have a baby, he said he was okay with it, but I've always known that he wants a big family. It'd kill me if I made him unhappy."

"This is why you're my favorite. I don't see Hermione going through all that trouble to make Ron happy."

"Thanks, Molly."

"Come on, let's get the girls over here and we'll go out to a nice place, my treat."

Dinner had been great, it was nice to catch up with everyone again. Ang ended up coming along since she had a tendency to invite herself to things anyway.

"So, are you and Anna related? You kinda look like her." Ang asked Granger. I had dyed my hair black, was a lot more toned and tanned than I used to be and my hair was much more manageable despite all the frizz.

"Granger's my twin sister."

"Really? I had no idea you even HAD a sister."

"We don't talk about or to each other often."

"Why?"

"Doesn't matter, old news," Molly said, waving her hand. "Well girls, this old lady is going home for the night. I'll be back bright and early, Anna!"

With a pop, she was gone.

Charlie's POV

I couldn't help but wonder why Anna was so eager to get my mum out of the house and talk to her so I planted one of the twin's new and improved 'extendable ears', which were long distance and easy to hide, in her back pocket as she walked away.

"Alright, this is what's going on. My friend Rachel from reserve told me a while back that I have options to be able have kids. Umm...when she transferred to the local hospital, I went to talk to her again and decided to get treatments done that will take away some of the scarring and make it easier to have kids."

"I'm thrilled to hear that, Anna, but aren't those painful? I've heard of them."

"No worse than getting burned by an angry Hungarian Horntail. Besides, they're pretty effective so it's worth it."

That would explain why she disappeared for a few hours every day. I smiled, ecstatic that she would do something like that for me, but the thought that she'd think I was unhappy if we didn't have kids bothered me. Of course I wanted kids with her, but I wasn't lying when I had told her it didn't matter either way. The main problem I was having was how to show her it didn't matter without her knowing I was listening in on the conversation.

"Oh, I have news!" I heard Ang's voice say before the charm on the Extendable Ear wore off.

A's POV

"George asked me to marry him!" Ang said excitedly. "That's not all! I'm pregnant!"

"Congratulations!" I said. I was truly happy for them, but couldn't help but be a little jealous about Ang being pregnant and didn't have to go through all the shit I had to go through to even have a chance of having kids.

"That's fantastic! Just to warn you though, you'll probably end up with twins!" Ginny said, laughing pretty hard. Ang had a look of horror on her face that made me grin.

"I never did get a good look at your ring, Anna." Ang said, grabbing my left hand to examine the white gold ring on my finger. "It's beautiful."

"Thanks," I said, not really wanting to elaborate.

"It's a family heirloom. It's my Grandma Prewitt's engagement ring. Bill gave Grandma Weasley's ring to Fleur. No one thought Charlie was ever going to get married, Percy is gay, so it was going to go to the twins if they got engaged before Charlie. Good luck for Anna that Charlie proposed first! My Grandma and Grandpa Prewitt got married when they were in their twenties and were as much in love on their death beds as they were on their wedding day. That ring's good luck!"

"It's a shame I didn't get anything with a family story. It would have been nice to have. Surely there was another ring or something George could have given me?"

"Nope, those are the only two. Why are you _jealous_ , Ang," Ginny teased.

"I might be a tiny bit jealous, I'll admit."

I rolled my eyes, having seen this argument coming as soon as Ang said she was engaged.

"No reason to be jealous, Ang. You should be happy enough with being engaged to George. Does a ring really matter that much? Besides, that thing is HUGE!" I said, smiling at her.

"Of course the ring matters, Anna! Isn't that what every woman wants? The perfect ring?"

"I couldn't care less, actually. I'm glad I was lucky enough to end up with Charlie. I would have been find with a ring from one of those muggle vending machine...things...whatever they're called."

"Well, rings are important to _me_ , but I'm an _actual_ woman. Things like that sort of stuff matters to me, and at least _I_ can have a baby, unlike you."

"What did you just say to me?" I asked, standing up really really wanting to punch her in the face.

"I said that you are not a real woman because you can't have babies!"

"Ang, Anna, calm down!"

"Stay out of it Ginny!" We yelled at the same time.

After much yelling, we were kicked out of the restaurant for causing a scene. Ang went home. Granger and Ginny tried to come home with me, but I apparated before they could do anything. As soon as I popped into the living room, I completely broke down. Charlie walked into the room seconds later and had me wrapped in his arms.

"What happened, Anna?"

"Ang and I got into a fight."

"About?"

"Me getting a family heirloom as a ring and her being able to have kids. She yelled at me in the middle of the restaurant saying that I'm not a real woman because I have kids! I'm trying, I mean I'm even getting treatments so we can have kids! Shit, you weren't supposed to find out about that yet." I wiped my tears away with my shirt sleeve and curled up as close to him as I could.

"Ang doesn't know what she's talking about, Anna. She's just jealous over a piece of jewelry. She was way out of line, probably pregnancy hormones."

That sent me into another round of tears, being reminded that I might not have to deal with that at some point. After that, he seemed at a loss of what to do, so he just held me and rubbed my back saying everything was going to be okay and Ang's opinion didn't matter. I jumped a bit as I heard two pops in the kitchen. Ginny and Granger walked into the living room in their pajamas, Ginny holding a container of chocolate ice cream and Granger with a stack of movies and a bottle of wine. I grinned at them as Charlie loosened his grip on me.

"Slumber party?" I asked as I stood up.

"Yep," Granger said.

"Is that death by chocolate ice cream?"

"Yep."

"Charlie, I'm leaving you for Ginny," I said before chuckling.

"Does that mean I should leave? I mean, it looks like you're setting up for a girls' night in."

"If you leave I will hunt you down and kill you," I said, glaring at him. "I'm going to put on some pajamas. Charlie, why don't you grab some extra blankets and pillows?"

"Yes, dear," he said, rolling his eyes. "I suppose I'm supposed to change too, right?"

"Duh," Ginny said. "Haven't you ever been to a slumber party?"

"Uh, no," he said before leaving to try to find where Molly had stashed extra bedding.

"Hermione, I never figured out how to work that thing. Can you get everything started up?" Ginny asked. Granger nodded.

"What movie first?"

"Anna's favorite of course." Granger raised an eyebrow. "Nightmare Before Christmas."

"Gimme," I said as I sat down on the living room floor after changing into my usual over sized shirt and shorts. I grabbed a spoon and the ice cream and started digging in. Charlie laughed at me as he showed back up in pajama pants and not wearing a shirt. He put the extra pillows and blankets on the couch, letting Ginny set everything up. She extended the couch so we would all be able to cuddle up on it.

"Ugh, put a shirt on, Charlie. No one wants to see that. Well, except for Anna," Ginny said, pushing Charlie back towards the bedroom.

"What are we watching?" I asked as I settled into my chosen spot.

"Nightmare Before Christmas," Granger said.

"I love you guys." I smiled at them before eating another spoonful of ice cream. Charlie walked back into the living room wearing a shirt, sat next to me, and pulled me up against him.

"So this is what you girls do at a girls' night in?"

"And when someone's upset," Granger explained. "Wine?" she offered me. I nodded and just drank out of the bottle, not giving a shit about using a glass.

"I can't believe I'm being forced to do this," I heard Charlie mumble.

"At least we're not making you watch chick flicks. Anna HATES those."

"What are we watching, then?"

"Anna's favorite movie then some nice, gory, violent horror movies."

"So, next time you get upset all I have to do is give you ice cream and cuddle?" I nodded as Ginny managed to get the ice cream away from me.

"God, that's DISGUSTING!" Granger said as Baby scalped Jerry for getting her favorite actress wrong.

The rest of the night was spent as such. Cuddling, drinking, eating ice cream, and watching scary movies. Charlie even began to enjoy himself once he got over being forced to participate in a slumber party, which happened after he had a fair amount of fire whiskey.

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" He asked all of us.

"Never," the three of us said.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: Dresses, Parties, and Preparations.**

 **A/n: Thanks for the reviews, the follows, and to those who added this story to their favorites list. I love you all.**

 **We're quickly coming to an end. After this, there are only two chapters left until our journey with Anna and Charlie is over. I might tackle a Bill/OFC story after this, but I'm not sure.**

Dress searching was as frustrating as it was fun, but in the end the fun won out. Molly, Ginny, Granger, Mckayla, Jean and I flooed to Diagon Alley to look at dresses at Madam Malkim's. After trying on what seemed like a million dresses, we finally found _the_ dress. I fell in love with it the second it was zipped up.

It was white with red corset strings on the sides, strapless, small red gem details, with an average sized train. Molly immediately found the perfect veil: white, with little red gems, the edging white, the fabric lace. The whole ensemble was perfect, especially when Ginny found the perfect shoes: Red, 3 inch peep toe heals.

For my bridesmaids who were Ginny, Granger, Mckayla, and Jean, with Ginny being my maid of honor. Sarah was my personal attendant the would be wearing A-line satin dresses that were solid colored except for a little belt like thing along the waist line that tied in a little bow on the side. They would alternate between solid red with gold belt and solid gold with red belt. Sarah, of course, would be able to pick her own dress. Their shoes would be the same as mine but in colors matching their dresses. I let Ginny pick them out, seeing as she was the maid of honor. She would be the one wearing gold first.

Having everything picked out made everything so much more real and I couldn't help but let a single tear roll down my face. I was extremely happy and couldn't wait.

The night after we picked out the dresses was my bachelorette party. Ginny had planned it so I had a feeling it would be bat shit crazy. I was right, of course. As soon as we walked into a club called Dragon Tamers, I was handed a list of things I was supposed to do by the end of the night.

"Okay, this is crazy. I mean, getting a free drink easy peesy, singing on the dance floor, no problem, but then the nonsense begins. I will NOT be dancing on the stripped pole for any length of time, nor will I go around with a handful of suckers and ask if guys would like a "suck for a buck."

"You have to!"

"No I don't."

"Oh, just do it dear." I heard Molly say.

"You're supporting your daughter in this nonsense?"

"Absolutely. If it makes you feel better we will _all_ do it, even me."

"So you, Molly Weasley, will go around asking guys if they would like a 'suck for a buck."

"Yes."

"Mum, you can't be serious," Ginny said, eyes wide.

"I am dear. You know I'd do anything for my girls."

"Okay, well, let's get this party started!" I yelled with a smile on my face.

A few drinks later and Molly asking men if they'd like a suck for a buck, my list of things didn't seem so bad, especially dancing on the stripped pole. My little routine was horrible, lasted more than two minutes, and I'm sure no one would let me live it down. Eventually, we sat down after much drinking and dancing to give me some gifts and advice.

Fleur sat across from me, grinning at me like she had something to say.

"I can give you some tips for you wedding night," she said in her french accent.

"I'm sure _I_ could give _you_ some tips for your sex life in general since you had to bring me in for a sidekick."

Her eyes went wide, but she ignored the comment.

"Oh, you can give me advice?"

"Believe me, with everything the twins and I did, I don't think I need any tips at all," I said, slurring my words.

"Oh, I have some helpful advice too, dear. Even if the sex is bad and he doesn't make you orgasm...fake it, just...fake it so he doesn't feel bad. It took _years_ before Arthur learned, not that he knew he was doing anything wrong."

"Molly, I did not need to hear that!" I said loudly, covering my ears.

"Have him bend you over.." I covered her mouth with my hand. Sex advice with my future mother in law and woman that practically raised me is not something I wanted to hear. Ever. Even when drunk.

"Fleur, what tips do you have for us inexperienced virgins?" Granger asked, blushing as she realized what she just had admitted.

"Don't be afraid to get a little...creative," she said waving her hand around. "Once, Bill and I ended up having sex outside where we would easily be caught. We were in a dark alley between two stores."

"Done it," I mumbled.

"Okay, since you seem to be so experienced, tell us a story about one of your sexcapades," Sarah demanded.

"Molly, you might want to cover your ears."

"Oh, no, that's quite okay. It's not like I never heard the three of you." I blushed furiously at that.

"Well, anyway we had just closed Weasley's Wizard's Wheezes for the night when Fred thought it'd be a good idea to bend me over the check out counter. He started talking all dirty to me, and of course I got turned on, especially when he started getting hard. He magicked my clothes off and fucked me from behind with me leaning on the counter!"

"Oh my god," Ginny said. "That's hot."

"You're talking about your brothers, you know," Fleur pointed out.

"I'm just pretending it's not. Tell us another story!"

"How dirty of a story do you want it to be?"

"Dirty!"

"Well, there was this one time George and I ended up fucking on the floor in their apartment when Fred showed up. Well, he decided he felt unloved and was missing out on the fun, so I flipped George over so I was on top. I ended up fucking George while sucking Fred's cock! It was a good night, I can tell you that. The next night, George ended up fucking me against a wall in the back room and we ended up breaking a bunch of stuff."

"Bill and I never do that sort of thing, except with you for his birthday last year."

"WHAT!?" everyone yelled at the same time.

"Yeah, one time thing."

"He still says it was his best birthday ever, I must say I'm a little jealous."

"It's okay, I'll never fuck your husband again."

"Time for presents!" Molly said quickly after hearing that story. We all assumed she didn't want to hear about her precious babies being so kinky.

"This one is from me!" Jean said as she handed me a box.

"Glow in the dark edible body paint? Charlie will _love_ this! What's next?"

"This is just a little something I picked up while we were getting everyone's dresses," Molly said as she handed me a white gift bag. Inside was a bridal lingerie set.

"Oh my god, Molly, this is beautiful! I'll definitely be wearing this under my dress!"

"Mine next!" Granger said as she handed me a smaller bag. It was filled with scented lotions and massage oils in Charlie's favorite scents– lavender and chamomile.

"Thanks, Granger."

Ginny practically threw the gift from her at my head in her excitement for me to open it. I reached in and pulled out a black and red corset top with matching thong, garters and fishnet stockings, Mckayla's present finished the outfit with a pair of matching shoes.

"Oh. My. God. I almost bought this set for myself!"

"We know, we saw you eying it up and _knew_ we had to get it for you!"

"Thank you so much everyone! Tonight was amazing," I said after we made it out of the fireplace at the burrow.

"You're welcome dear," Molly said. "I haven't had this much fun in years! This was even more fun than Fleur's!" She admitted, then covered her mouth when she realized it had slipped. Fleur glared at her a moment before smiling.

"You're right, this was so much more fun!"

 **Let's skip ahead a month and a half.**

We were all piled in Ginny's room as we all got ready for the big day. Ginny was in the process of doing my hair in a french braid(think Elsa from frozen when she goes crazy) topping it with a small tiara having decided to forgo the veil. Once that was done, Molly helped me into my dress, crying happy tears as she zipped me up.

"Oh, my baby girl is getting married! I can't believe this is happening already!" She said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"It kind of sounds creepy when you call her your baby girl when she's marrying one of your sons," Mckayla said before chuckling.

"It's almost time!" Sarah said as she rushed into the room.

"Oh, honey do you have everything? Something borrowed, something new, something blue and a penny in your shoe?"

"No, Molly, I figured I'd leave that to you."

"In that case, your something borrowed is this anklet. I wore it at my wedding," she said as she closed it around my ankle. Your dress is the something new of course. The blue is in your earrings, and here, let me stick a penny in your shoe."

After everyone was all calmed down and had everything we needed, we headed outside. Everyone took a deep breath as the bridesmaids paired up with the groomsman who she was walking down the aisle with. Arthur grabbed my hand linked arms with me.

"Are you ready?" He asked. I nodded, not pausing to think at all.

 **A/N: Yes, short chapter, but I wanted to give everything it's own chapter such as Charlie's party and the epilogue. Don't forget to leave a review!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: Parties and Final Details**

 **A/n: Only one more chapter after this! I can't believe it's almost over! Sorry that the last three are so short, but it is what it is. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, I love you all.**

 **I don't own anything other than my OC's!**

Bill, the twins, and Johnnie agreed to be my groomsmen and of course Bill was the Best Man. Thankfully, deciding what they would wear was really easy. Just dress robes to match the girls dresses. Pretty damn simple. We put in the orders for our robes then headed back to the house before going out for my bachelor party. I hope it wasn't as insane as Johnnie kept saying it was. Is it so horrible that I'd rather just go out for a few drinks then call it a night? Of course it was.

Once I was dressed, we headed down to the Char Bar to start out the night, not very exciting, just watching the girls dance. Well, everyone else was watching them dance, me, on the other hand, I just wanted to go home and spend some time with Anna. Apparently that wasn't allowed. Eventually, I was drunk enough to enjoy the evening.

"Let me give you some marriage advice," Bill said. "She's always right. Even when she's wrong, she's always right."

"Did you forget that we grew up with Anna? She actually is right most of the time."

"Good point...uh...god, I don't even have advice. The two of you have known each other forever, have lived together for years, all that's changing is her last name!"

"Exactly," I said, rolling my eyes.

"How 'bout some sex advice?" Bill said, slurring his words.

"I doubt I need it, but you're going to tell me anyway." I chuckled as I gulped down the rest of my beer.

"Sometimes it'll just get boring, like you're stuck in a rut. That's the time to do something crazy to get yourself out of it. Fleur and I were in a funk like that until my birthday the year before you guys hooked up."

"What happened on your birthday?"

"Fleur talked Anna into joining us for a night. You're wife to be is a talented witch. Flexible, no gag reflex and up for just about anything."

"Just how many Weasleys has she been with?" Johnnie said, chuckling.

"Well, she was with the twins, then Bill and Fleur and now me."

"Bill, tell us about your little threesome with Charlie's bride to be!" Fred said, wanting to see my reaction.

"I doubt Charlie wants to hear it. Why don't _you_ tell him some stories about her?"

"Oh, where to start, where to start," George said as he thought about which story to tell first.

"Well, there was this one time we got really drunk and ended up fucking in the back room while the shop was still open."

"I think that was the same night I fucked her on the check out counter," Fred added.

"You're welcome, by the way, when it comes to the blow job skills," George said.

"Ugh, I really didn't need to know her amazing skills were learned by experiences with you. I mean I _know_ but I really don't want to think about it," I said. "Can we talk about something other than my brothers fucking my soon to be wife?"

"But it's so much fun making you blush!" Bill said, laughing at me.

"Oh, shut up."

"I could always give you some advice, son," Dad said from his spot in the corner.

"All ears, dad."

"Well, once your mother and I tried some positions from the kama sutra or whatever it's called."

"Okay, I don't want to hear anymore!"

Instead of presents I got free drinks all night, which was fine by me. Towards the end of the evening, two girls approached me and offered to have a threesome with me.

"Hey," one of the girls slurred as she ran a finger down my chest. I grabbed her hand lightly and pushed it away from me.

"Go away," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Don't you want to have some fun tonight?"

"Not with you."

"What if we offered you a threesome?" I sighed.

"No."

"Well, you're no fun," the other girl said, pouting. "are you sure?"

"Positive." They finally walked away with Johnnie staring at their asses.

"You know, after you say the words "I do" you'll never get an opportunity like that again, right? Are you sure you want to carry through with it?"

"Johnnie, you're an idiot. Of course I'm going to marry Anna." I rolled my eyes and stood ready to go home. Everyone followed my lead and we headed back home.

When I got there, Anna was already sleeping...well more like passed out on the kitchen floor. Seeing as she was still wearing the clothes she had gone out in(including her shoes), I assumed that she had just passed out as soon as she got back from the burrow. I chuckled as I picked her up and carried her to our bedroom before changing her into her pajamas. She wake up, just mumbled a few things I couldn't understand. I climbed in bed next to her and she automatically curled up next to me, resting her head on my shoulder and flinging an arm around my waist.

"Goodnight Charlie," She slurred before passing out again. I kissed her forehead before I fell asleep as well.

 **Skip to wedding day**

Before I got ready, I walked through the same tent we had used for Bill and Fleur's wedding making sure everything was absolutely perfect. The conjured trees with leaves falling like the ceiling at Hogwarts were functioning properly and the dragons flying around the top of the tent made just enough light with their flames. I had wanted Kelly and Shirley there, but unfortunately I wouldn't have been able to get them over in time. Once everything was perfect, I headed to my old room to get ready. I took a deep breath after Dad came in to tell us it was time to go. We all headed down to the tent to start the ceremony. I walked with my Mum up to the alter and led her to her seat. Next came Ginny and Bill, Granger and Fred, Mckayla and George, and Jean with Johnnie. Once we were all in our proper places, music changed, the bride was about to walk down the aisle. When I saw her start walking towards me, I was speechless. She smiled at me and I couldn't help but return it. This woman was beautiful and in just minutes, she was to be my wife.

 **Anna's POV**

I was so nervous I was shaking.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Arthur asked, squeezing my hand as we linked arms.

"Yes," I said, not pausing for a second.

"Time to go, sweetheart," he said, smiling at me before we started the slow walk to the alter. Charlie looked amazing, I didn't bother looking at anyone else, the only person I even noticed was my soon to be husband. He smiled back at me and I had to fight the urge to just run to him. When Arthur and I made it to the alter, the ceremony began. First were the typical, generic vows, but before we said "I do" we had a few things to say to each other.

"Anna, I've known you for most of our lives. You were there for me through the good and the bad and held my hand when I needed you to. You sang to me on nights I was sick and couldn't sleep, told me muggle fairy tales when I got drunk and wouldn't shut up, you've always been there. You moved to Romania, played with dragons with me and didn't show an ounce of fear, even when you got hurt. You are the only woman who can keep up with me, that has ever made me think of settling down, and the only woman who could tame me. I love you Anna."

I chuckled as I wiped away a tear.

"Charlie, you are crazy, reckless, and do a lot of stupid things, but I love you anyway. You've been there for me since I was a little kid. You took me to Romania the first Christmas after my parents died, you taught me how to fly, secretly built me a tree house, and got me drunk on my 13th birthday. When I was sick you'd tell me horrible combinations of the stories I told you. You've been there whenever I needed you, held my hand whenever I needed you to and smacked me upside the head when I did something stupid, especially when I moved to Romania." I chuckled. "Charlie, you've always had shitty taste in women, no one can argue with that, but this time you thought with the right head and ended up with me. I love you Charlie."

We said our 'I dos', kissed before making fun of each others' vows.

"Did you really say that I think with my dick and not my brain?"

"More or less, yeah."

"You managed to insult me and make it sound romantic. That's takes talent."

The reception seemed to go on forever after all of the normal cliché reception things were done.

The bouquet was caught by Ginny, Johnnie caught the garter, Charlie stepped on my toes during our dance and after we got bored so we ended up sneaking out while no one was paying attention. We headed back to the burrow and up to his room.

"As soon as I saw you in that dress, I couldn't wait to get it off of you," he said before kissing me hard on the lips. Once he pulled away, I smiled and started undoing his tie before starting on the buttons of his red shirt. Before anything got more heated, someone knocked on the door.

"I know you two are in there! Safe it for the honeymoon!"

"Coming, mum!" we said at the same time before straightening out our clothes.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 29: The End of our Journey

A/n: This is it, guys and gals! The very last chapter, I hope you enjoy it!

"Finally," Charlie said as we checked into our hotel in France. It had been Fleur's idea, of course. Apparently her parents owned the hotel we were staying in and was able to get us the best suite in the place at a very cheap price, not that we had to pay for it. It had been a gift from Bill and Fleur. I was thrilled to be there, the place was gorgeous and had a perfect view of the Moulin Rouge. Fleur made us a whole itinerary for the honeymoon, museums, beaches, etc. Needless to say, none of that happened. The farthest away we made it from our room was either in the hot tub or downstairs to the pool.

Once we were up to our room, top floor of course, clothes flew off. He made quick work of my dress, but left the lingerie set on as I set upon removing his tie and going after the buttons.

"Who picked out your outfit?" He said as he ran his hands up and down the white and red corset top between nips at my neck.

"Your mother."

"You're kidding me."

"No, this was a present from her, actually."

"Well, now it's coming off immediately. I really don't want to be fucking you while you're wearing lingerie my mother picked out." Seconds later, I was laid on the bed fully naked as he finished undressing himself. He crawled up my body, kissing my legs, stomach, breasts, neck, and jawline before he kissed me hard on the lips. Foreplay wasn't needed, it seemed the waiting all day for that moment had done it's work.

He ran his hands up and down my body before hitching on of my legs up before slamming into me. Instead of the stereotypical romantic, slow, love making expected on wedding nights, we had rough, hard, wild...fucking. There was no way it could be classified under 'making love' which wasn't that unusual. Charlie and I weren't ones for the slow, sweet, and gentle sex after all.

At some point, I was able to flip us over so I was on top. He gripped my hips tight enough that I would have bruises later on as he set the pace. I leaned down to kiss him when he started thrusting up while holding me still. I bit his neck as I tried to keep my moans in, but it only made him go faster and harder. He flipped us over and once again I found myself on my back with my legs wrapped around him.

"CHARLIE!" I screamed as I climaxed. His came almost immediately after I did, my name falling from his lips. He rolled off of me, the both of us trying to catch our breaths.

"Well, Mrs. Weasley, how was that for wedding night sex?"

"Not too bad," I said, grinning. "I've had better."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

Three Months Later

"Charlie..." I said as I stared at the muggle pregnancy test in my hand. (Rachel had suggested using one first to save on the hospital trip since performing the spell would be dangerous if not done by a medi witch.)

"Well?" He said excitedly from the other side of the bathroom door.

"I'M PREGNANT!" I yelled as I burst out of the room and into his arms.

"Really?"

"Yeah, see the little plus sign?"

"Are you happy?"

"Extremely happy and excited. You?"

"Happier than I've ever been!" He scooped me up and kissed me as we made our way to the bedroom.

"Come here," I said as he set me on the bed. He nodded and laid down next to me, wrapping me in his arms.

"I know you got those treatments," he said.

"Uh, yeah. I told you on our honeymoon. What about them?"

"I've always wondered...did they hurt?"

"Do you want a lie or the truth?"

"Truth."

"It hurt like hell. Not as bad as getting burned by a horntail though. It was more like getting bitten by a yearling Norwegian Ridgeback."

"How long did you go through that?"

"Weekly for four months."

"For me?"

"For us," I said, snuggling up closer to him.

"When are we going to tell everyone?"

"After we go see Rachel."

The next week, we went to our appointment to see her and I had never seen her smile so widely.

"A positive test?" She asked excitedly.

"Yes!"

"Alright, let's double check. Lay back, dear," she said as Charlie helped me up onto the table. She ran her wand over my belly and squealed when it turned gold signifying that I was, indeed, pregnant. A few days after the second appointment the next week (high risk pregnancy) we went to the weekly family dinner ready to announce our news. We were going to wait until after the meal, but Charlie decided he couldn't wait.

"We have news!" He said loudly, a smile on his face.

"I take it it's good news," Molly said, looking up at her son.

"Anna's pregnant!" Everyone cheered, congratulated and hugged the both of us, forgetting the food in front of them.

"There's more," I said, grinning at the twins. "I'm having twins!

Many Years Later

It was summer time at the Burrow and nice enough to eat outside. I had helped Molly with the cooking, not giving her much of a choice in the matter, as Bill and Charlie set up the tables in the back yard. It was a bit more difficult for them than they wanted to admit with all the grand kids running around. So far Bill and Fleur had a baby girl, George had a baby girl and married Ang, Sarah and Fred had a little boy and then there was us. We were the proud parents of 4 girls, 2 boys with another boy on the way. Charlie had the small army of Weasley's he wanted and was an amazing father, as for me I had swollen ankles, my back hurt, I was moody, and I swore the baby was swinging off of my rib cage. We had never been happier.

The End


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